N 


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EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 


BY 


CHARLES  HUBERT  FARNSWORTH 

ADJUNCT    PROFESSOR    OF  MUSIC 
TEACHERS  COLLEGE,    COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


NEW  YORK  •:•  CINCINNATI    •:•  CHICAGO 

AMERICAN    BOOK    COMPANY 


Copyright,  1909,  by 
CHARLES  HUBERT  FARNSWORTH 


Entbred  at  Stationers'   Hall,   London 


Education  Through   Music 
w.  r.  13 


o 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Principles  or  Teaching 5 

II.  The  Musical  Idea 13 

III.  Ideas  as  Related  to  Interpretation    .  20 

IV.  Ideas  as  Related  to  Structure    ...  27 
V.  How  Ideas  Are  Developed  Through  Ex- 
perience       33 

VI.  First  Year  Work:  Awakening  Musical 

Ideas 41 

VII.  Second  Year  Work:   Defining   Inter- 
pretative and  Structural  Ideas    .      61 
VIII.  Introductory   to   Third   Year   Work: 
Two  Aspects  of  Staff  Representa- 
tion    84 

IX.  Third    Year    Work:    Completing    the 

Process  from  Song  to  Notation    .      89 
X.  Introductory  to  the  Second  or  Syn- 
thetic Phase  of  Music  Study    .     .     107 
XL  Fourth  Year  Work  :  Phrase  Conception     112 
XII.  Special    Work    of    the    Fifth    Year: 
Formal  Study  of  Tone  and  Key 

Relationships 121 

XIII.  Special  Work  of  the  Sixth  Year:  Chord 

and  Key  Relationships      ....     134 
3 


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4  CONTENTS 

XIV.  Introductory  to  the  Seventh  Year: 
Two  Reasons  for  Change  in  Char- 
acter of  Work 147 

XV.  The  Seventh  Year 151 

XVI.  Introductory    to    the    Eighth    Year 

Work  :  Repetition  in  Art    ....  1 64 

XVII.  The  Eighth  Year 172 

XVIII.  Plan  of  Instruction  by  Topics     .     .     .  189 
XIX.  The  Broad  and  Narrow  View  of  Edu- 
cation in  Relation  to  Music    .    .    .  202 


EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

CHAPTER  I 

PRINCIPLES  OF  TEACHING 

About  one  per  cent  of  our  population  has  a  formal 
education  beyond  the  age  of  fourteen.*  The  musical 
instruction  that  is  given  during  this  period  is  for  most 
people  all  the  training  that  they  ever  receive  in  the  subject. 
Hence  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  little  time 
given  to  music  should  be  spent  in  the  most  effective  way. 
This  requires  a  consideration  not  merely  of  the  musical  ends 
to  be  reached,  but  of  the  capacity  of  the  pupil  and  his 
musical  needs,  involving  a  cultivation  of  the  desire  for  the 
beautiful  in  music,  and  direction  for  its  gratification  under 
the  social  conditions  in  which  he  lives.  Such  a  broad  view 
of  the  subject  demands  that  sound  principles  be  followed 
and  that  a  rational  plan  of  presentation  be  employed.    It 

*  In  i905~'o6  the  number  of  children  registered  as  attending  public 
high  schools  in  the  country  at  large  was  eighty-eight  hundredths  of  one 
per  cent  of  the  total  population;  or,  including  the  children  studying  at 
private  secondary  schools,  over  one  per  cent  of  the  population  was  tak- 
ing secondary  education.  David  Snedden,  Charities  and  the  Commons. 
April  25,  1907. 

5 


6  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

may  be  of  help  if  at  the  outset  the  principles  upon  which  the 
instruction  is  based  be  formulated,  and  the  necessity  for  a 
plan  of  teaching  presented. 

It  is  not  always  easy  to  differentiate  between  a  method 
employed,  which  is  the  way  a  thing  is  done,  and  the  prin- 
ciple that  it  is  intended  to  follow,  which  is  a  general  rule  of 
procedure  constantly  needing  common  sense  for  its  ap- 
plication. 

No  one  way  of  procedure  is  the  right  way  under  all 
conditions;  but  the  principles  that  underlie  the  application 
should  have  stability.  Without  this,  the  goal  cannot  be 
reached.  The  principles  are  few  and  explicit;  they  are  the 
result  of  the  experiences  of  many,  and  of  the  application 
of  physiological-psychological  laws.  The  actual  method 
pursued,  however,  will  be  determined  by  the  character  of 
the  students  and  the  conditions  under  which  the  work  is 
done.  A  principle  requires  a  way,  in  other  words,  a 
method,  for  its  expression,  but  the  wise  teacher  knows 
very  well  that  to  confuse  the  two  is  to  crystallize  the 
method,  from  which  it  is  but  a  step  to  dogmatism  and  stag- 
nation. Hence  one  is  constantly  testing  principles  in  order 
to  separate  the  method  useful  only  in  a  given  case  from 
that  which  is  always  applicable. 

The  principles  that  have  controlled  the  presentation  in 
the  following  chapters  are: 

(i)  Experience  should  precede  formal  instruction. 

(2)  Where  it  is  lacking,  the  teacher  should  supply  the 
experience  necessary  as  a  basis  for  instruction. 

(3)  The  teacher  should  organize  this  experience,  so  that, 


PRINCIPLES  OF  TEACHING  7 

while  a  particular  effect  is  observed  and  studied,  its  re- 
lation to  the  total  effect  shall  not  be  lost. 

(4)  The  motive  or  impulse  in  artistic  education  lies  in 
the  desire  of  the  individual  to  express  himself. 

(5)  The  purpose  of  education  through  art  is  to  quicken 
perception,  clarify  feeling,  and  stimulate  initiative  for  the 
beautiful. 

Of  the  five  principles  which  the  book  emphasizes,  the 
first  demands  experience  as  the  prerequisite  of  all  work. 
The  second  begins  the  teaching  with  management  of  ex- 
perience, as  for  instance,  in  the  rhythmic  acting  in  the  first 
grade,  or  the  chord  formation  of  the  sixth,  so  that  all  the 
students  in  a  class,  not  merely  the  talented  few,  shall  pos- 
sess the  foundation  experience  for  what  is  to  be  taught. 
The  third  takes  the  complex  experiences  that  manifest  the 
subject  studied,  as  in  this  case  music,  and  breaks  them  up 
by  means  of  carefully  arranged  steps  such  as  acting  or 
picturing.  In  that  way  the  particular  experience,  the 
nature  of  which  the  average  student  would  otherwise  be 
unconscious,  is  observed  and  felt,  and  made  to  form  a 
basis  for  study,  a  definite  object  for  notation.  From  the 
imitative  song  singing  at  the  opening  of  the  first  grade  work 
to  the  appreciation  of  the  higher  forms,  the  material  has 
been  so  arranged  that  at  every  stage  it  shall  relate  to  a  defi- 
nite preceding  experience.  In  this  way  not  simply  a  mem- 
ory appeal  will  be  made,  but  definite  ideas  developed,  so 
vital,  because  of  their  relation  to  experience,  that  they  can 
form  a  foundation  for  new  ideas  and  through  them  lead  to 
new  experiences.    This  arrangement  of  the  material  with 


8  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

reference  to  experience  renders  it  possible  for  the  pupil  to 
make  a  vital  connection  with  great  works  of  art,  by  means  of 
which  a  deeper  significance  and  an  enduring  worth  are 
given  to  life. 

Thus  three  of  the  five  principles  formulated  deal  with 
experience.  The  fourth  is  closely  allied,  for  with  reference 
to  it  the  work  has  been  constantly  planned  so  as  to  insure 
such  self-activity  on  the  part  of  the  individual  as  shall 
not  be  vague  nor  haphazard,  since  this  would  vitiate  the 
ideas  to  be  developed,  but  definite  and  systematic.  For 
instance,  the  child  in  connection  with  the  song  carries  on 
definite  activities:  he  steps  to  the  rhythm;  he  claps  for 
duration;  in  speed  work  he  is  obliged  to  grasp  the  phrase  as 
a  whole;  later,  he  follows  the  separate  sentences  which 
make  up  the  thought  of  the  larger  form  with  lines  that  show 
their  number  and  relationship.  In  the  creative  work  of 
song-making  and  in  writing  what  he  hears,  the  induced 
self-activity  vitalizes  his  experience.  Finally,  the  fifth 
step  still  views  the  subject  from  the  pupil's  point  of  view; 
for  it  limits  the  field  of  study  to  that  knowledge  and  skill 
which  may  be  turned  to  practical  use  in  the  experience  of 
the  average  man. 

Turning  now  to  the  plan  of  teaching  employed:  this 
consists  in  presenting  the  material  in  topics  thoroughly 
worked  out  in  the  logical  relationship  of  their  parts  and 
dictated  by  the  experience  of  the  pupil.  This  requires 
careful  preparation  on  the  part  of  the  teacher. 

Spontaneity  is  often  looked  upon  as  the  one  ideal  con- 
dition of  instruction;  the  teacher  is  expected  to  be  bub- 


PRINCIPLES  OF  TEACHING  9 

bling  over  with  enthusiasm  and  knowledge,  ready  to  adapt 
herself  to  whatever  phase  of  the  subject  the  humor  of  her 
pupils  may  present.  Hence  the  use  of  the  words  "plan  of 
instruction"  referring  to  the  way  the  work  is  presented, 
and  implying  that  something  more  than  mere  knowledge 
of  the  subject  is  necessary  for  the  teacher,  has,  on  some 
persons,  the  effect  of  the  traditional  red  rag.  A  lesson  to 
such  people  is  like  an  artistic  performance  whose  death 
knell  is  sounded  if  any  regulative  element  is  introduced. 
Yet,  if  we  accept  this  conception  of  teaching  as  an  artistic, 
rather  than  a  scientific  performance,  owing  to  the  personal 
and  emotional  elements  involved,  does  it  follow  that  there 
is  no  technique  required  for  its  realization?  Not  by  any 
means. 

An  illustration  from  the  field  of  art  is  appropriate. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  a  man  like  Paderewski  enters  upon 
his  career  with  a  remarkable  natural  endowment,  but  in 
spite  of  this  he  undergoes  a  rigorous  technical  training  that 
only  an  iron  will  and  strong  constitution  could  stand.  Yet 
all  this  training  is  simply  to  enable  him  to  interpret  a 
musical  passage  to  his  audience.  He  practices  much  in 
order  that  he  may  present  something  effectively  to  others. 
A  teacher  who  should  stop  simply  with  the  acquisition  of 
the  subject,  and  take  no  thought  as  to  how  it  should  be 
interpreted  with  reference  to  the  needs  of  the  particular 
class,  would  be  doing  the  same  thing  that  a  Paderewski 
might  who  mentally  grasped  the  thought  of  the  composi- 
tion, and  knew  just  how  it  should  be  performed,  but  did 
not  trouble  himself  to  learn  the  technique  necessary  for  its 


io  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

presentation.  In  other  words,  there  is  a  difference  between 
knowledge  of  a  subject  and  the  ability  to  put  it  before 
others.  A  great  many  people  think  that  when  an  indi- 
vidual knows  a  subject  he  is  prepared  to  teach  it;  but 
from  the  teaching  point  of  view  he  is  only  ready  to  begin 
his  professional  preparation.  His  peculiar  technique,  that 
which  justifies  his  being  called  a  teacher,  lies  in  his  ability 
to  impart  knowledge. 

It  is  quite  possible  for  a  person  to  have  a  special  gift  for 
imparting  knowledge, — a  sympathetic  appreciation  of  the 
needs  of  the  learner,  enabling  him  to  become  a  brilliant 
teacher  after  he  has  learned  his  subject.  But  even  under 
these  conditions  such  a  person  attains  his  skill,  not  at  once 
but  through  the  opportunities  he  meets  in  teaching. 

As  soon  as  he  has  finished  learning  his  subject,  a  gifted 
teacher  may  give  good  lessons  without  any  special  atten- 
tion as  to  how  he  shall  teach ;  but  though  he  may  have  had 
no  pedagogical  training,  the  fact  that  he  is  gifted  in  this 
respect  has  caused  him  to  observe  and  learn  from  his  own 
skilled  teachers,  so  that  he  really  has  had  professional 
training,  though  not  of  a  formal  nature.  While  it  may  be 
true  that  the  teacher,  like  the  artist,  is  born  and  not  made, 
it  is  equally  true  that,  as  an  artist,  he  needs  professional 
training.  Those  who  object  to  the  planning  of  instruction 
are  really  denying  the  value  of  professional  training  for 
the  teacher. 

The  teacher's  training,  like  that  of  the  artist,  has  two 
sides;  one  the  actual  doing  of  the  thing, — modeling  in  clay, 
painting  on  canvas,  performing  at  the  keyboard,  actual 


PRINCIPLES  OF  TEACHING  II 

teaching  of  children;  the  other,  the  thought,  plan,  prep- 
aration for  action.  The  fascination  that  the  sketchbooks 
of  great  artists,  such  as  Beethoven  or  Leonardo  da  Vinci 
or  Hawthorne  have  for  us  is  that  they  show  how  these 
artists  prepared  for  their  work. 

The  plan  stands  in  the  same  relation  to  lessons  given,  as 
the  sketchbook  of  the  artist  does  to  his  masterpiece.  The 
teacher  sketches  his  idea  of  how  the  subject  should  be 
developed,  changes  it,  emphasizes  now  one  aspect,  now 
another,  viewing  it  in  the  various  lights  of  different  ap- 
proaches. He  attains  such  a  mastery  over  the  presentation 
that  he  is  able  to  play  with  the  thing.  He  has  developed 
a  technique  far  beyond  what  is  necessary:  he  has  gained 
what  the  engineer  calls  a  margin  of  safety.  Now  he  comes 
to  the  class,  not  to  reproduce  something  cut  and  dried,  but 
to  mold  the  minds  before  him  through  the  very  activity 
he  draws  out;  like  the  sculptor  who  has  a  clear  image  he 
wishes  to  realize,  and  yet  is  open  to  every  inspiration  that 
may  come  to  him  as  the  figure  emerges  from  the  clay.  The 
plan  does  not  tie  the  teacher's  hands;  it  frees  them.  It 
gives  control  of  the  situation  by  anticipating  various 
possibilities  that  may  occur.  The  planbook  of  the  teacher 
is,  then,  the  sketchbook  of  the  artist.  Let  me  not  be  mis- 
understood :  I  would  not  lay  undue  stress  upon  mere  plan- 
ning of  topics  to  the  neglect  of  such  experience  as  one  gets 
by  actual  teaching.  Preparation  must  go  hand  in  hand 
with  execution.  To  adapt  a  famous  adage,  planning  with- 
out doing  is,  like  theories  without  facts,  vain;  and  doing 
without  planning  is,  like  facts  without  theories,  futile. 


12  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

While  the  work  in  the  following  chapter  is  presented  in 
the  form  of  stages  and  steps,  implying  a  connected  pres- 
entation of  the  subject  under  complete  topics,  they  are 
not  necessarily  intended  to  be  given  in  one  lesson,  but  to  be 
treated  so  connectedly  that  the  whole  v/ill  form  a  united 
impression  upon  the  mind  of  the  pupil.  A  large  proportion 
of  the  actual  lessons  given  will  be  those  of  review  and  ap- 
plication. These  are  left  to  the  good  judgment  of  the 
teacher.  The  greatest  skill  and  closest  thought  is  required 
when  a  new  topic  is  being  first  presented.  This  is  the 
birth  of  an  idea  in  the  pupil's  mind.  Whether  it  be  de- 
formed and  sickly,  or  compact  and  healthy,  depends  largely 
on  its  first  formation,  hence  the  emphasis  on  the  way  the 
subjects  are  presented  and  the  absence  of  directions  for 
review  and  practice,  which  would  be  necessary  were  the 
book  a  manual  of  teaching  and  not  a  presentation  of 
principles. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  MUSICAL  IDEA 

The  satisfaction  derived  from  music  is  more  dependent 
on  the  way  the  tones  are  combined  and  employed  than  on 
the  tones  themselves.  The  direct  stimulus  to  the  senses  is 
of  itself  entirely  inadequate  to  account  for  the  pleasure 
music  gives. 

A  visit  to  a  Chinese  theater  will  convince  the  reader  of 
the  truth  of  this.  He  will  find  the  acting  intelligent,  the 
color  scheme  effective.  When  the  interpreter  by  his  side 
translates  the  poetry  it  may  appeal  to  him  as  good ;  but 
the  music  will  be  "sound  and  fury,  signifying  nothing." 
Ask  the  interpreter  what  the  music  means  and  he  cannot 
put  it  into  words.  But  the  intelligent  Ah  Lee  or  Woo  Sing 
appears  to  understand  and  enjoy  it.  Consider  what  this 
fact  means.  Here  we  have  intelligent  men,  who  in  some  of 
their  arts  are  our  superiors,  listening  with  enthusiasm  to 
what  sounds  to  us  like  mere  noise.  We  thus  see  how  little 
we  are  affected  by  an  appeal  to  the  senses  pure  and  simple. 
We  do  not  appreciate  Chinese  music  because  we  do  not 
understand  the  principles  and  ideals  that  underlie  its 
structure  and  interpretation. 

Of  all  the  arts,  music  is  the  least  universally  comprehen- 

'3 


14  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

sible.  Painting  and  sculpture  do  not  require  even  to  be 
translated,  because  the  objects  on  which  the  ideas  of  these 
arts  are  based  are  the  same  throughout  the  world.  Trees, 
water,  sky,  and  land  are  similar  in  Paris  and  Pekin.  A 
statue  representing  parts  of  the  body  put  together  amiss 
would  be  as  wrong  in  one  locality  as  in  another.  Poetry 
is  translatable  because  the  ideas  of  which  it  treats  are  more 
or  less  alike  in  Asia  and  America.  Human  nature  is  prac- 
tically the  same  the  world  over.  However  much  its  man- 
ifestations may  differ,  there  is  a  wonderful  similarity  of 
experience.  Love  and  hate,  kindness  and  cruelty,  are  com- 
mon to  all  dwellers  on  the  earth.  When  the  Chinese  poet 
weaves  these  experiences  into  a  drama,  the  ideas  are  in- 
telligible to  the  Parisian  listener.  For  a  good  translation 
can  bring  the  Chinese  poet  in  touch  with  a  foreign  audience, 
and  in  spite  of  the  difference  in  style  any  one  may  genuinely 
enjoy  the  Oriental  poet's  work.  As  soon  as  the  barriers  of 
language  are  removed,  the  Oriental  and  the  Occidental 
can  look  over  the  dividing  walls  of  custom  and  civilization 
and  appreciate  each  other's  art. 

The  reason  that  music  alone  of  the  arts  is  untranslatable 
is  because  the  elements  of  music,  tone  grouping,  and  the 
manner  of  production  by  means  of  which  specific  musical 
ideas  are  expressed,  do  not  exist  in  nature,  but  are  the 
product  of  civilization  and  custom.  Each  race  has  its  par- 
ticular set  of  musical  ideas,  and  the  individual  is  familiar 
with  them  because  he  is  born  into  them.  His  mother  sings 
melodies  that  bring  smiles  of  pleasure  to  his  face  or  soothe 
him  to  sleep.    He  hears  the  little  songs  of  his  brothers  and 


THE  MUSICAL  IDEA  15 

asters.  Unconsciously  he  learns  the  prevailing  idiom  of 
the  musical  language,  and  as  soon  as  his  faculties  permit  he 
begins  to  imitate  and  to  produce  the  kind  of  music  pre- 
vailing in  his  region,  just  as  he  talks  French  if  he  is  born  in 
Paris.  Hence,  when  a  specific  piece  of  music  is  heard  by 
those  unfamiliar  with  the  musical  ideas  which  the  piece 
embodies,  no  comprehension  can  take  place.  The  design 
is  not  appreciated;  only  a  more  or  less  pleasing  collection 
of  sounds  is  heard.  This  is  why  Oriental  music  is  incom- 
prehensible and  untranslatable. 

Since  ideas  lie  back  of  music  just  as  they  lie  back  of  lan- 
guage, there  is  a  similarity  in  the  way  they  are  acquired. 
In  learning  a  language  the  child  first  utters  incoherent 
cries  and  ejaculations;  then  he  begins  to  use  single  intelli- 
gible words;  then  he  adds  more  words  and  forms  sentences. 
So  with  music;  the  child's  incoherent  calls  and  gurgles 
give  place  to  definite  groups  of  tones;  then  he  attempts  to 
sing,  often  with  no  better  success  than  is  attained  when  he 
tries  to  pronounce  the  words  he  hears.  This  learning  of 
the  sounds  and  forms  of  the  music  idiom  depends,  as  does 
his  learning  of  language,  on  what  he  hears  and  on  how 
much  he  tries  to  imitate. 

But  the  needs  and  wants  of  the  child  force  him  along 
faster  in  the  mother  tongue;  he  is  constantly  hearing  it 
used,  so  that  he  has  opportunity  to  connect  the  things  said, 
and  gains  an  idea  of  what  is  being  talked  about.  If  he 
is  to  get  what  he  wants  and  be  one  with  his  fellows,  he 
must  talk,  and  talk  freely.  No  such  force  impels  him  in 
music.   The  only  reason  a  child  sings  is  Decause  he  likes  to 


1 6  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

sing.  And  many  a  child  does  not  have  much  pleasure  in 
singing;  often  he  has  not  learned  to  control  the  throat  so 
that  he  can  sing  what  he  wishes.  There  are  people  who 
cannot  even  hum  an  air  or  tell  one  tune  from  another; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  the  prodigy  who  plays 
and  even  composes  before  he  reaches  his  teens. 

The  sensation  of  pleasure  or  displeasure  that  music  in- 
duces has  led  to  the  statement  that  music  appeals  directly 
to  the  feelings.  If  this  were  true,  music  would  be  in  the 
same  class  with  perfumes.  If  a  person  should  smell  two  un- 
familiar odors,  unless  they  were  similar  to  some  he  already 
knew,  so  that  he  could  say  one  resembled,  for  example,  a  rose 
or  violet,  he  would  be  unable  to  describe  the  difference  in 
such  a  way  as  to  make  it  clear  either  to  himself  or  to  others. 
He  could  say  that  the  two  odors  were  different  and  that 
he  liked  one  and  disliked  the  other,  but  that  would  be  all. 
The  point  is  that  while  at  first  thought  music  seems  to  ap- 
peal directly  to  the  feelings,  it  really  does  not  do  so,  but 
reaches  the  feelings  through  ideas  which  deal  with  definite 
forms.  These  ideas  relate  to  plan  and  arrangement  and 
to  the  manner  of  performance,  showing  that  the  emotions 
music  awakens  result  very  largely  from  ideas  of  structure 
and  interpretation. 

If  a  person  had  never  heard  Dixie  or  Suwannee  River, 
when  the  two  tunes  were  played  to  him  he  would  have 
different  feelings  about  them;  he  might  like  one  and  dis- 
like the  other.  But,  besides  the  difference  in  the  degree 
of  pleasure  felt,  he  could  point  out  a  number  of  particulars 
in  which  the  two  differed.     Even  the  average  observer 


THE  MUSICAL  IDEA  17 

would  feel  the  difference  between  the  swing  of  Dixie  and 
that  of  Suwannee  River. 

The  fact  that  he  could  notice  unlikenesses  in  the  two 
tunes  would  show  that  there  is  a  difference  in  the  designs 
of  which  the  tunes  are  constructed.  Such  differentiation 
is  also  impossible  between  odors.  If  all  associations  con- 
nected with  the  rose  and  the  lily  were  blotted  out,  we  could 
only  say  in  comparing  their  odors  that  they  were  different. 
But  if  we  compare  the  flowers  themselves,  we  shall  find 
that  they  present  certain  ideas.  That  is,  each  flower  mani- 
fests itself  in  a  certain  way — the  lily  through  its  cup-shaped 
and  the  rose  through  its  complex  corolla.  Our  experience 
in  observing  the  arrangement  of  petals,  the  color,  the  shape 
and  the  relationship  of  parts  to  a  whole  has  produced  the 
ideas  rose  and  lily,  and  we  are  able  to  judge  whether  these 
ideas  are  adequately  attained  or  not.  So  with  the  two 
tunes  mentioned  above.  The  different  relationships  of  the 
parts  to  one  another  show  different  designs.  We  have  ideas 
of  them  which  cause  us,  if  a  part  be  slightly  changed,  to  be- 
come conscious  not  only  of  the  alteration,  but  of  the  nature 
of  the  effect  it  produces.     These  are  the  ideas  of  structure. 

But  there  is  another  class  of  ideas,  those  pertaining  to 
interpretation.  Dixie  and  America  might  be  so  played 
that  the  listener  would  say  one  is  jolly,  gay,  and  lively;  the 
other  dignified  and  stately.  This  sense  of  difference  is 
caused  by  the  way  the  tunes  are  performed.  We  can 
imagine  Dixie  played  in  the  solemn  style  of  America,  and 
America  played  in  the  lively  way  suitable  for  Dixie.  But 
such  performances  would  awaken  feelings  of  incongruity. 

Music — 2 


i8  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

We  have,  then,  ideas  of  how  a  tune  should  be  performed, 
ideas  arising  partly  from  the  nature  of  the  particular  tune, 
and  partly  from  the  associations  connected  with  it. 

We  have  perceived  how  we  can  describe  what  we  see  in  a 
rose  or  lily.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  eye  is  able  to 
recognize  the  relationship  of  qualities  and  parts  to  the 
whole.  Thus  we  get  not  only  the  idea  of  the  entire  rose  or 
lily,  but  also  ideas  of  the  component  parts — stem,  leaf, 
petal — that  make  up  the  complete  idea,  percept,  or  notion. 
The  rose  may  be  faded  and  dull,  or  it  may  be  fresh  and 
bright;  each  of  these  is  a  definite  idea  pertaining  to  the 
quality  of  the  flower.  The  rose  may  be  single  or  double, 
its  petals  may  be  round  or  oval;  each  of  these  is  a  definite 
idea  pertaining  to  the  structure  of  the  flower.  To  be  com- 
plete, the  notion  or  idea  of  a  flower  must  be  a  combination 
both  of  ideas  of  its  structure  and  of  ideas  of  its  quality. 

Similarly,  a  piece  of  music  presents  not  only  the  ideas 
of  structure  and  interpretation  already  referred  to,  which 
give  the  notion  of  the  piece  as  a  whole,  but  these  in  turn 
can  be  analyzed  into  a  still  further  group  of  ideas  which 
we  shall  term  constitutive,  because  every  definite  musical 
theme  or  motive  and  its  adequate  production,  includes 
these  essential  factors.  There  are  seven  of  these;  four 
relating  to  interpretation,  and  three  to  structure.  The 
four  ideas  upon  which  interpretation  is  dependent  are : 

(i)  Quality  of  tone, 

(2)  Quantity  or  volume  of  tone, 

(3)  Rate  of  movement, 

(4)  Articulation  (such  as  separation  or  union). 


THE  MUSICAL  IDEA  19 

The  three  ideas  essential  to  structure  are : 

(1)  Pulsation, 

(2)  Duration, 

(3)  Pitch. 

The  capacity  to  feel  the  effects  of  these  seven  constitu- 
tive ideas  is  essential  to  the  adequate  appreciation  of 
music. 

In  developing  the  consciousness  of  these  ideas  it  is 
necessary  to  analyze  them;  but  this,  while  supplying  a 
basis,  by  no  means  accomplishes  all  we  wish  in  education. 
The  true  science  teacher  attempts  not  only  to  lead  the 
children  to  know  something  of  anemones  and  buttercups, 
of  butterflies  and  ants,  but  through  this  knowledge  to 
strengthen  the  love  for  the  nature  life  about  them;  the 
true  teacher  of  English  not  only  trains  the  children  to 
speak  and  write  correctly,  but  awakens  in  them  a  love  for 
good  literature.  The  teacher  of  physical  training  likewise 
aims  not  only  to  make  the  little  people  stronger,  but  to  in- 
spire in  them  a  pleasure  in  graceful  posture  and  motion. 
This  aspect,  the  love  for  what  is  taught,  while  impossible 
without  the  knowledge  of  the  subject — for  we  cannot  love 
what  we  do  not  know — does  not  in  all  cases  necessarily 
follow  knowledge.  But  music  teaching  which  does  not 
awaken  this  feeling  of  delight  is  a  failure. 


CHAPTER  III 
IDEAS  AS  RELATED  TO  INTERPRETATION 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  describe  the  prin- 
ciples that  deal  with  the  way  music  is  performed,  that  is, 
with  the  interpretation  of  music. 

The  child  with  a  weak  sense  of  rhythm  might  play  Dixie, 
using  a  beautiful  piano,  but  exhibiting  such  a  lack  of  feel- 
ing that  the  performance  would  awaken  irritation;  while 
some  street  urchin  might  play  the  same  tune  on  a  Jew's- 
harp  with  such  individuality  in  the  rendering  that  we 
should  say  with  pleasure:  "There  is  a  musical  youngster." 
Although  both  performers  presented  the  same  structural 
form,  and  that  produced  on  the  piano  would  have  great  ad- 
vantage in  the  quality  of  tones,  we  should  prefer  the  Jew's- 
harp  version.  Our  quest  is  to  know  just  what  it  is  that 
gives  the  preference  in  this  instance  to  the  poorer  in- 
strument. 

Turn  to  the  analogy  of  language.  Listen  to  a  school- 
boy reciting  the  Gettysburg  speech  and  compare  his  in- 
terpretation with  the  declamation  of  a  finished  orator.  The 
words  are  the  same — that  is,  there  is  no  difference  in  the 
structure — but  how  unlike  is  the  effect !  The  boy  may  have 
the  better  voice,  yet  beside  the  orator,  his  recitation  of  the 


IDEAS  AS  RELA  TED  TO  INTERPRET  A  TION       2 1 

words  is  mechanical  and  full  of  inflections  betraying  a  lack 
of  comprehension  of  the  thought.  The  most  striking 
difference  between  the  two  recitations  is  that  while  the 
orator  brings  out  the  meaning  of  the  language,  and  causes 
us  to  see  even  more  in  the  words  than  when  we  read  them 
ourselves,  the  schoolboy's  awkward  presentation  obscures 
rather  than  illuminates  the  thought. 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  comprehension  of  the  speech  is  not 
communicated  simply  by  the  accurate  repetition  of  the 
words.  The  orator,  a  mature  man,  has  had  wide  experi- 
ence ;  he  has  studied  many  great  speeches  and  has  learned 
to  value  them;  he  has  read  history  and  realizes  what  a 
powerful  influence  this  particular  speech  had  at  a  critical 
period  in  the  life  of  the  nation.  All  this  background 
enables  the  orator,  through  inflection  and  tone  color,  to  add 
an  emotional  value.  Our  preference  for  the  orator's  in- 
terpretation of  the  Gettysburg  speech  is  due,  then,  to  his 
clear  discernment  of  its  thought,  and  to  his  power  to  feel 
and  express  its  worth.  This  second  element,  though  often 
spoken  of  as  emotional  and  temperamental,  is  more  than 
this.  The  boy's  delivery  may  have  plenty  of  emotional 
color;  in  fact,  the  ludicrous  character  of  such  performances 
is  very  often  the  result  of  misplaced  or  exaggerated  emo- 
tional effects.  The  interpretation  of  the  speech  is  deter- 
mined by  the  character  and  skill  of  the  speaker  and  the 
wealth  or  poverty  of  his  past  experience. 

Turning  now  to  the  two  performances  of  Dixie,  we  see 
that  the  preference  for  the  Jew's-harp  version  instead  of 
that  of  the  piano  did  not  lie  in  the  musical  idea  presented, 


22  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

for  both  gave  the  same  tune;  nor  in  the  tone  employed,  for 
the  poorer  tone  was  preferred ;  but  in  the  way  the  idea  was 
presented — its  interpretation.  The  power  to  interpret  is, 
popularly  speaking,  due  to  the  inherent  musical  qualities 
of  the  Jew's-harp  player.  This  is  but  another  way  of 
saying  that  the  Jew's-harp  player  is  more  richly  gifted 
or  that  he  absorbed  a  large  amount  of  the  musical  language 
in  early  childhood  and  often  used  it  as  a  means  of  ex- 
pression. The  street  urchin  could  make  the  gay  tune  ex- 
press the  emotion  he  felt,  just  as  the  statesman  could 
impress  his  audience  with  the  force  of  his  own  feeling  for 
the  cpeech  he  was  reciting. 

The  popular  notion  of  the  process  of  musical  interpre- 
tation is  the  very  reverse  of  what  we  have  been  describing. 
The  emotional  element  is  supposed  to  come  first,  leading 
afterwards  to  a  discernment  of  the  thought.  But  when  we 
ask  what  it  is  that  awakens  the  emotions,  unless  we  say 
that  it  is  a  spontaneous  reaction  to  the  sound,  as  is  the 
sense  of  smell  to  the  odor,  we  must  admit  that  the  emotions 
are  aroused  through  ideas.  Two  steps  are  involved :  first, 
realization  of  the  structure  of  the  idea  presented;  and  sec- 
ond, appreciation  of  the  significance  of  this  idea  or  its 
interpretation,  aided  by  previous  musical  experience. 

This  double  discernment  of  the  musical  idea  and  its 
value  to  us  goes  on  subconsciously,  for  our  fundamental 
musical  understanding,  like  our  grounding  in  language, 
takes  place  so  early  in  childhood  that  we  are  not  conscious 
of  the  processes;  we  are  sensible  only  of  the  result.  The 
more  musical  a  person  is,  the  more  intuitive  will  be  the 


IDEAS  AS  RELA TED  TO  INTERPRETA TION        23 

feeling  of  reaction.  How  common  it  is  to  hear  a  musician 
say:  "I  don't  know  how  I  do  it;  I  feel  it  so."  He  does  not 
realize  that  an  intuitive  reasoning  is  taking  place  which 
makes  him  perceive  one  form  one  way  and  another  form 
another  way.  The  reason  for  his  feeling  how  a  composition 
should  be  interpreted  really  exists,  even  though  it  is  hidden 
from  his  conscious  self,  in  his  musical  rationality.  If  we 
analyze  the  performances  of  musical  people,  we  find  that 
the  manner  of  their  interpretation  grows  in  a  logical  way 
from  the  nature  of  the  selection,  and  it  is  possible  to  for- 
mulate the  laws  that  underlie  the  performance  of  a  given 
work.  Because  the  musician  may  be  unconscious  of  these 
laws,  it  does  not  follow  that  they  do  not  control  his  proc- 
esses. 

What  method  should  be  taken  to  teach  the  boy  to  deliver 
the  Gettysburg  speech  adequately?  Some  instructors 
would  give  a  training  in  gesture  and  expression  of  face  and 
body,  in  the  rolling  of  r's  and  the  emphasizing  of  final 
consonants.  But  such  training  alone  would  only  add  to 
the  ludicrous  effect  of  the  recitation  and  make  its  inade- 
quacy more  prominent. 

The  true  teacher  would  begin  by  trying  to  make  the  boy 
so  thoroughly  understand  the  thought  of  what  he  was  re- 
peating that  he  would  see  the  bearing  of  each  sentence  on 
this  thought.  Along  with  this  training  in  the  structure  of 
the  speech  would  go  a  second  kind  of  training — in  its  in- 
terpretation. In  order  to  give  the  boy  the  necessary  back- 
ground, the  teacher  would  tell  him  about  Lincoln  and  the 
influence  growing  out  of  the  conditions,  which  led  to  the 


24  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

speech.  He  would  be  asked  to  study  other  great  speakers, 
and  he  would  gradually,  as  far  as  possible  for  one  of  his 
experience,  begin  to  realize  the  force  and  beauty  of  the 
masterpiece.    He  would  begin  to  value  it. 

The  same  principle  should  hold  true  in  teaching  the 
effective  interpretation  of  music.  The  teacher  who,  with- 
out reference  to  the  significance  of  the  ideas  in  the  music, 
teaches  what  he  calls  expression  by  variation  in  tempo  and 
emphasis,  through  these  arbitrary  changes  makes  only 
more  obvious  the  lack  of  true  discernment  of  the  musical 
idea.  A  wise  teacher  will  lead  the  pupil  to  conceive  first 
what  the  music  means  as  a  whole.  Is  it  a  brisk  winter 
song,  or  does  it  regret  the  passing  of  the  flowers  ?  From  the 
thought  will  be  decided  the  quality  of  tone  to  be  employed : 
there  must  be  sustained  energy  in  one,  and  pensive  qual- 
ity in  the  other.  With  the  quality  will  be  developed  a  feel- 
ing for  the  proper  quantity :  the  hilarious  winter  song  must 
have  something  of  the  shout;  while  the  autumn  song  re- 
quires a  subdued  tone  appropriate  to  the  regret  it  expresses. 
There  will  be  difference  in  velocity:  skating,  or  sliding, 
or  snowballing,  or  the  scurrying  of  snowflakes  demands  a 
brisk  movement  of  the  music;  while  the  passing  away  of 
summer,  the  disappearance  of  the  flowers,  the  sleep  :".n  the 
cold  ground,  and  the  drizzling  rain  will  be  expressed  by  a 
slower  movement.  Furthermore,  the  articulation  will  dif- 
fer: the  zigzag  motion  of  the  skater  or  of  the  snowflake,  and 
abrupt  motions  of  the  snowball  require  an  emphasis  on  the 
separated  or  staccato  effects;  whereas  the  reverie  of  the  au- 
tumn song  will  utilize  sustained  and  well-connected  words 


IDEAS  AS  RELA TED  TO  INTERPRETA TION        25 

and  phrases.  Thus,  in  the  attempt  to  express  the  central 
thought  the  pupil  has  gradually  been  made  conscious  of 
the  means  employed  to  express  it.  Through  realizing 
their  appropriateness  in  expressing  the  song,  he  has  be- 
come aware  of  the  four  constitutive  ideas  of  interpretation, 
as  mentioned  in  Chapter  II. 

(1)  Quality  of  tone, 

(2)  Quantity  or  intensity  of  tone, 

(3)  Rate  of  movement, 

(4)  Articulation  (such  as  separation  and  union). 

It  will  be  readily  seen  that  these  interpretative  ideas  are 
not  applicable  unless  the  structure  of  the  song  is  appro- 
priate to  the  sentiment  it  expresses.  But  if  the  song  be 
good  the  pupil,  as  he  becomes  conscious  of  the  interpreta- 
tive ideas,  grows  aware  of  the  more  subtle  structural  ideas 
upon  which  the  interpretation  depends.  As  in  the  case  of 
the  Gettysburg  speech,  a  complete  presentation  necessitates, 
in  addition  to  the  interpretative  and  structural  ideas,  a 
knowledge  of  the  external  associations,  such  as  the  subject, 
style,  intention  of  the  composer,  and  date  of  composition. 
This  is  where  the  individuality  of  the  interpretative  artist 
finds  play.  The  value  of  the  interpretation  will  depend 
on  his  skill  and  his  appreciation  of  the  composition. 

While  the  average  listener  is  not  conscious  of  the  con- 
stitutive ideas  by  means  of  which  interpretative  effects  are 
gained,  their  influence  upon  the  complete  interpretation  of 
the  work  is  shown  by  the  unanimous  appreciation  given  a 
really  musical  performance. 

It  is  told  of  an  eminent  concert  pianist  that  he  found  his 


26  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

best  critic  in  an  acquaintance  who  could  not  even  sing  or 
whistle  a  tune  correctly.  Any  one  can  easily  bring  to 
mind  instances  of  the  quickness  with  which  a  musically 
uncultivated  audience  will  respond  to  a  genuinely  artistic 
performance.  Though  they  are  not  able  to  give  an  ade- 
quate reason  for  their  preference,  the  power  of  the  gifted 
player  or  singer  is  instantly  felt  and  is  summed  up  by  the 
word  "musical."  This  shows  how  universal  and  how 
definite  are  the  ideas  of  inteipretation,  by  means  of  which 
such  sure  verdicts  are  given  even  by  nonmusical  people. 

We  like  the  way  one  person  performs  a  musical  work 
and  dislike  another's  interpretation  of  the  same  work,  even 
when  the  performance  by  the  latter  is  technically  correct, 
because  the  interpretation  of  the  first  has  appealed  to  the 
ideal  of  the  beauty  contained  in  the  music,  while  the  second 
interpretation  lacked  that  beauty.  Our  ideals  are  the 
result  of  our  previous  musical  experience,  and  beautiful 
performances  make  us  conscious  of  them.  The  awak- 
ening of  such  consciousness  is  often  like  a  further  self- 
revelation  and  gives  us  a  rare  feeling  of  exaltation.  Hence 
the  importance  of  developing  musical  ideas.  These  will 
be  considered  in  Chapter  IV. 


CHAPTER  IV 

IDEAS  AS  RELATED  TO  STRUCTURE 

In  marked  contrast  with  the  uniformity  as  regards  in- 
terpretative ideas  stand  the  ideas  of  musical  structure,  of 
which  we  shall  treat  in  this  chapter.  Choice  here  is  by  no 
means  so  sure  and  definite.  To  illustrate  this  divergence, 
equally  good  presentations  of  two  unlike  compositions  may 
be  taken.  Imagine  two  church  choirs  which  are  equally 
skilled  in  every  way,  but  of  which  one  gives  historic  music 
of  the  style  of  Old  Hundred  while  the  other  sings  the  Gospel 
Hymn  type.  Each  congregation  is  pleased  with  its  own 
music.  Now  let  these  churches  exchange  choirs,  while 
each  continues  to  sing  its  own  selections.  The  interpre- 
tative work  will  be  equally  good,  but  the  effect  on  the 
audience  will  be  very  different.  The  first  congregation  will 
consider  the  songs  of  the  second,  vapid,  silly,  unchurchly, 
and  impossible  of  conveying  any  spiritual  meaning;  while 
the  second  will  think  the  music  of  the  first  dull  and  cold, 
without  power  to  express  spiritual  fervor.  This  difference 
in  preference  is  evidently  not  one  of  interpretation,  for 
the  choirs  are  equal  in  their  ability  to  render  their  music 
effectively.     But  the  content  of  the  two  kinds  of  music  is 

totally  different.    They  express  different  structural  ideas 

27 


28  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

which  appeal,  or  do  not  appeal,  to  the  different  audiences. 
The  kind  of  music  we  like  is  determined  by  our  immediate 
environment.  Whether  we  prefer  the  music  hall  type,  or 
the  work  of  great  masters  depends  upon  which  we  are  in 
the  habit  of  hearing,  unless  we  are  musically  gifted  and 
can  enter  at  once  into  the  greater  inheritance. 

The  two  recitations  of  the  Gettysburg  speech  exem- 
plify the  importance  of  interpretation.  We  realized  the 
necessity  for  the  speaker's  appreciation  both  of  the  speech 
and  its  setting.  That  he  might  recite  it  effectively  it  was 
essential  for  him  to  be  able  to  value  it.  But  if  a  speech 
lacks  ideas,  no  amount  of  interpretative  skill  can  make  it 
affect  us,  for  there  is  no  vital  meaning  to  express.  More 
important  than  expression,  or  form,  is  the  thought  itself, 
or  substance.  In  music,  as  in  language,  the  idea  is  of 
supreme  importance.  A  single  tone  heard  by  itself  means 
nothing.  Only  the  few  who  possess  absolute  pitch  can 
identify  it  by  name.  Before  it  becomes  meaningful  it  must 
be  built  up  with  other  tones  into  a  pattern  or  design. 

We  have  seen  that  differences  in  preference  are  due  to  the 
memory  of  what  we  have  been  accustomed  to  hear,  but 
there  must  be  something  in  the  structure  to  which  memory 
can  attach.  A  person  who  has  heard  Dixie  and  The  Star 
Spangled  Banner  from  childhood  would  not  confuse  the 
two,  even  though  he  were  not  able  to  state  in  words  the 
different  ideas  the  two  tunes  expressed;  their  difference 
would  be  as  distinct  in  the  consciousness  as  the  difference 
between   Barbara  Frietchie  and  the  Biglow  Papers. 

Let  us  examine  the  difference  in  the  structural  ideas  of 


IDEAS  AS  RELA  TED  TO  STR UCTURE  2 9 

the  two  tunes.  This  requires  us  to  consider  the  constitu- 
tive ideas  of  structure  that  unite  in  producing  their  specific 
effects.  First,  we  can  march  to  one  tune,  but  we  should 
have  to  waltz  if  we  wished  to  move  with  the  swing  of  the 
other.  The  grouping  and  emphasis  of  tone  for  the  purpose 
of  producing  this  feeling  of  pulsation,  enabling  us  to  move 
regularly  to  the  swing  of  the  tune,  is  technically  known  as 
the  metrical  element  of  music.  The  metrical  element — for 
instance,  two-four  or  three-four — can  be  thought  of  in- 
dependently of  these  tunes.  Meters  are  distinct  ideas  in 
themselves,  modes  of  pulsation  necessarily  used  to  form  a 
musical  structure;  but  they  have  significance  only  as  they 
constitute  a  definite  element  of  music. 

In  the  second  place,  we  notice  as  we  sing  the  two  tunes 
that  while  we  can  keep  a  regular  movement,  the  tones 
through  which  the  pulses  are  manifested  are  not  of  regular 
length;  some  are  long,  even  lasting  over  a  pulse,  and  some 
are  short  so  that  several  occur  in  a  single  pulse.  This 
variation  of  the  tones  as  to  time  duration  is  not  arbitrary, 
but  fits  in  with  the  regular  pulsation  of  the  metrical  rela- 
tionships, forming  with  tbem  a  rhythmic  pattern  or  design. 
We  find  that  the  two  tunes  vary  decidedly  in  this  respect 
of  duration.  These  duration  values  are  not  invented  for 
these  particular  tunes;  they  are  part  of  the  inherent  rela- 
tionship in  which  tones  are  thought.  In  themselves  they 
form  a  distinct  group  of  ideas,  but  as  in  the  case  of  pulsa- 
tion, they  gain  their  significance  only  when  expressed  in  a 
given  musical  passage. 

Finally,  we  have  a  third  grouping  of  tones,  which  has  to 


30  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

do  entirely  with  the  pitch  of  the  sounds.  Here,  similarly, 
we  find  that  the  selection  of  pitches  is  not  arbitrary,  but 
consists  of  tones  related  in  a  definite  way  to  what  is  called 
the  keynote  of  the  composition — its  principal  or  most  im- 
portant tone.  This  key  relationship  is  a  distinct  idea  in 
itself,  independent  of  the  two  others  mentioned;  yet,  like 
them,  not  significant  until  it  is  combined  with  them.  Such 
combination  results  in  a  definite  piece  of  music  whose  type 
varies  according  to  the  way  in  which  the  constitutive  ideas 
have  been  used. 

To  recapitulate,  the  complete  structural  idea  of  the  two 
tunes,  while  felt  as  a  sound  motion  or  progress  (for  we 
speak  of  the  way  music  "goes"),  takes  its  definite  character 
in  each  tune  from  the  three  ways  in  which  the  ideas  consti- 
tutive of  structure  are  manifested:  first,  in  relation  to  the 
regular  successions  of  time,  which  is  expressed  by  means 
of  pulsations  that  throb  in  larger  and  larger  units;  second, 
in  relation  to  the  relative  duration  of  the  tones,  which, 
fitting  in  with  the  pulsations,  present  a  definite,  rhythmic 
design;  and  third,  in  relation  to  the  pitch  of  the  tones,  a 
selection  of  sounds  with  reference  to  a  central  or  key  tone, 
which  vary  with  reference  to  the  direction  up  or  down  and 
to  the  extent  of  change  in  each.  These  three  ways  in  which 
tones  are  grouped  unite  to  form  the  structure  or  design  of  a 
tune.  This  design  is  the  idea  the  composer  of  the  tune  in- 
tended to  represent.  We  recognize  the  force  and  character 
of  the  idea  long  before  we  analyze  it ;  in  fact,  analysis  into 
these  constitutive  ideas  might  hinder  enjoyment  at  the  time. 

Disassociation  between  a  musical  passage  and  the  spe- 


IDEAS  AS  RELA  TED  TO  STRUCTURE  3 1 

cific  idea  it  expresses  cannot  take  place.  All  musical  pas- 
sages are  specific ;  every  combination  of  sounds,  every  tone 
group  that  conveys  a  musical  thought  can  express  only  that 
particular  tone  thought,  and  it  cannot  be  translated  into 
words.  Change  any  constitutive  factor,  such  as  the  dura- 
tion or  pitch  of  any  of  the  tones,  and  you  express  some- 
thing different. 

As  soon  as  we  realize  that  every  musical  form  or  tone 
group  we  hear  is  itself  a  concrete  musical  thought,  and  is 
the  product  of  combining  the  three  tone  relationships, 
pitch,  duration  and  pulsation,  which  are  themselves  con- 
stitutive ideas,  we  perceive  how  important  it  is  to  hear 
accurately  these  relationships.  It  is  true  that  musical 
appreciation  does  not  need  to  break  up  the  tonal  move- 
ment or  progress  into  these  three  factors,  but  it  is  also 
true  that  any  indefiniteness  in  perceiving  these  relation- 
ships must  result  in  indefiniteness  on  the  part  of  the  listener 
as  to  the  idea  expressed. 

For  this  reason  the  Kindergarten  stage  of  mere  sensi- 
bility without  training  in  analysis  for  accurate  hearing  is 
inadequate.  Yet  most  of  us  never  advance  beyond  this 
childhood  stage.  Its  limitations  may  be  formulated  thus: 
first,  experience  is  narrow,  we  learn  to  like  few  and  poor 
varieties;  second,  experience  lacks  intensity,  is  weak  and 
superficial.  Most  of  us  need  development  and  widening 
of  the  early  experience  through  opportunities  for  inter- 
pretation, and  the  making  of  this  experience  more  sharp 
and  vivid  through  training  in  hearing  accurately  the  consti- 
tutive ideas. 


32  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

The  importance  of  directing  and  guiding  musical  ex- 
perience will  be  seen  if  we  keep  in  mind  these  facts:  first, 
that  while  comparatively  few  make  music,  every  one  who 
hears  it  takes  part  in  it  to  the  extent  of  his  enjoyment; 
second,  that  the  part  taken  by  those  who  enjoy  it  is  by 
means  of  the  musical  ideas  that  are  presented;  and  third, 
that  the  musical  ideas  presented  would  be  unintelligible  to 
the  hearer  unless  his  previous  musical  experience  had 
made  him  familiar  with  similar  ideas.  The  aim  of  music 
teaching  in  the  public  school  being  to  give  not  only  technical 
knowledge  to  the  gifted  few,  but  also  a  cultural  training  to 
the  many,  the  teaching  should  consist  of  the  experience 
that  will  widen  and  intensify  the  ideas  of  musical  structure 
and  interpretation,  and  thus  lead  to  comprehension  and 
enjoyment. 

The  following  chapters  suggest  a  way  in  which  this  may 
be  done. 


CHAPTER  V 

HOW  IDEAS  ARE  DEVELOPED  THROUGH 
EXPERIENCE 

One  of  the  editors  of  a  large  metropolitan  daily  says 
that  while  almost  all  the  writers  in  the  office  are  college 
men,  and  that,  too,  from  a  university  that  lays  special 
stress  on  English  work,  yet  it  is  practically  necessary  to 
teach  these  men  to  write  after  they  enter  the  office.  We 
know  that  they  have  had  eight  years  of  English  in  elemen- 
tary and  grammar  schools,  and  four  years  of  secondary 
school  training;  that  they  have  specialized  in  English  at 
college;  and  that  the  subject,  instead  of  being  divorced 
from  actual  life,  requires  daily  practical  exercise  from 
childhood.  Then,  too,  we  must  remember  that  the  schools 
have  almost  entirely  neglected  the  oral  for  the  benefit  of 
the  written  language.  In  the  face  of  all  these  facts,  the 
remark  of  the  editor-in-chief  that  it  is  necessary  to  teach 
college  graduates  how  to  write — not  academic  English, 
but  the  common  English  of  every  day  life — seems  strange. 
This  can  be  accounted  for,  however,  when  we  take  into 
consideration  that,  while  the  true  aim  of  school  work  is  to 
prepare  for  life,  the  immediate  aim  is  the  study  of  such 
subjects  as  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic.    The  teacher, 

Music— 3  33 


34  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

with  all  his  energies  bent  on  accomplishing  these  definite 
activities,  is  liable  to  lose  sight  of  the  real  end  for  which  the 
studies  are  prescribed.  Hence,  while  the  children  learn  to 
read,  write,  and  cipher,  they  do  so  under  artificial  condi- 
tions, and  are  instructed  with  a  disregard  for  the  applica- 
tion of  these  activities  to  living,  so  that  the  true  aim  of  all 
their  work — the  participation  in  life — is  lost.  Therefore, 
owing  to  this  radical  difference  in  point  of  view,  it  is  pos- 
sible for  a  pupil  to  study  English  all  his  student  life,  and 
still  be  unprepared  for  the  practical  demands  of  news- 
paper work. 

If  this  is  the  case  in  such  a  study  as  English,  the  difficulty 
is  much  more  apparent  in  a  subject  like  music,  the  practical 
exercise  of  which  is  but  sporadic  and  occasional.  To  this 
disadvantage  must  be  added  the  fact  that  the  relation  be- 
tween the  thing  studied,  as  scales,  chords,  and  all  the  com- 
plexities of  notation,  and  the  vital  thing  experienced  as 
beautiful  music,  is  difficult  to  establish  even  for  musically 
gifted  people.  One  can  imagine,  therefore,  the  state  of 
mind  of  the  large  majority  of  the  ungifted. 

Take  the  study  of  harmony.  There  is  hardly  any  one 
who  is  not  sensitive  to  its  effects,  yet  it  would  be  safe  to 
hazard  that  not  one  in  a  hundred  »f  those  who  write  out 
the  exercises  of  an  average  harmony  book  is  able  to  make 
any  practical  connection  between  the  knowledge  and  skill 
he  has  gained  and  his  musical  experience. 

In  the  vast  amount  of  knowledge  that  children  gain 
spontaneously  before  school  days  begin  it  is  the  practical 
use  of  what  is  learned  that  causes  them  to  absorb  it.    A 


HOW  IDEAS  ARE  DEVELOPED  35 

rudimentary  notion  of  current  musical  ideas  has  been 
unconsciously  acquired  by  the  average  child  who  enters 
the  first  grade.  He  has  picked  them  up  just  as  he  has 
picked  up  his  mother  tongue.  If  he  is  born  in  London, 
Occidental  music  sounds  familiar  to  him;  if  he  is  born  in 
Tokio,  Oriental  music. 

In  order  to  understand  language,  the  child  has  need 
of  a  great  background  of  language  experience  whereby, 
through  a  series  of  unconscious  comparisons  of  the  sounds 
he  hears,  aided  by  the  common  points  in  the  circumstances 
under  which  they  are  uttered,  and  through  continual  de- 
liberate attempts  to  imitate  the  sounds,  there  gradually 
and  all  unconsciously  dawn  upon  him  their  purpose  and 
the  method  of  using  them.  Thus  he  becomes  conscious 
of  the  idea.  In  other  words,  his  consciousness  of  ideas  is 
the  result  of  his  attempts  to  make  his  experience  practical. 

The  following  illustration  shows  the  necessity  of  applying 
language  forms,  such  as  words,  to  our  experience  in  order 
to  define  ideas  and  make  discrimination  possible.  A  boy, 
who,  on  account  of  brain  deficiency,  did  not  imitate  sounds, 
grew  to  the  age  of  eleven  without  being  able  to  talk.  He 
acted  like  an  imbecile,  did  not  play  with  the  other  children, 
and  expressed  hunger  and  other  elemental  ideas  only 
through  signs,  intelligible  to  no  one  but  his  parents.  At 
eleven,  the  experiment  of  teaching  him  by  Bell's  visible 
speech  was  tried.  The  result  was  marvelous.  The  boy 
caught  up  with  the  other  children;  in  fact,  he  advanced  so 
rapidly  that  it  was  necessary  to  stop  teaching  him  for  a 
time  lest  his  brain  be  overtaxed.    The  boy  had  the  ex- 


36  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

perience,  the  necessary  senses,  and  evidently  the  brain 
capacity,  but  because  of  his  inability  to  imitate  sounds  he 
had  been  unable  to  apply  the  symbols  of  language  to  his 
experience,  and  thus  was  left  incapable  of  developing  his 
ideas. 

If  we  apply  to  music  the  thought  of  the  preceding  illus- 
tration, the  first  attempts  of  little  children  to  sing  will  show 
how  the  experience  is  being  acquired  from  which  musical 
ideas  may  be  developed.  In  his  attempts  at  song,  the 
child's  voice  goes  up  and  down  in  pitch,  it  produces  long 
and  short  tones,  it  occasionally  places  emphasis,  and  suc- 
cessive outbursts  produce  a  crude  sort  of  rhythm.  But 
this  rambling  la-laing,  although  it  contains  all  the  elements 
of  music,  and  the  fond  mother  may  call  it  singing,  cannot 
be  termed  music;  for  it  presents  no  organic  material.  But 
let  the  child  repeat  a  definite  rhythm,  expressed  through 
tones  showing  key  relationship,  and  the  very  fact  that  he 
can  hold  this  unit  and  can  keep  repeating  it  shows  that 
his  previous,  unorganized  experience  has  been  organized 
by  means  of  this  particular  melodic  form.  His  music  at 
first  may  consist  of  this  one  figure,  but  soon  others  form 
and  he  shows  preferences.  He  will  need  to  hear  but  the 
first  strain  of  Little  Bo  Peep  or  Ding  Dong  Bell  to  dis- 
tinguish it.  In  other  words,  he  has  gone  through  precisely 
the  same  process  and  has  organized  and  used  ideas  in 
connection  with  these  songs  just  as  he  did  with  the  words 
cat  and  dog.  But  there  is  this  difference  that  the  child 
is  probably  more  analytically  conscious  of  the  constitutive 
ideas  that  combine  to  form  the  notions  of  objects,  because 


HOW  IDEAS  ARE  DEVELOPED  37 

it  is  easier  to  think  of  phenomena  presented  in  space  than 
of  those  presented  in  time.  In  music,  pitch,  duration,  and 
pulse  changes  all  combined,  succeed  one  another  so  subtly, 
as  presented  in  time,  that  the  memory  is  unable  to  hold 
them  distinctly  enough  to  permit  the  mind  to  compare 
them.  However,  the  essential  thing — their  effect  as  reg- 
istered in  feeling — is  just  as  distinct  and  definite  for  Ding 
Dong  Bell  and  Little  Bo  Peep  as  it  is  for  any  visible  objects. 

Objection  may  be  made  to  the  preceding  description  as 
not  applicable  to  the  facts  presented  by  extremely  musical 
children.  The  musical  child  will  produce  organized  mu- 
sical effects  in  the  form  of  melodies  with  apparently  no 
more  preparation  than  the  newly  hatched  chick  requires 
in  order  to  peck.  This  means  simply  that  the  young  inherit 
strong  tendencies  to  do  things  which  favorable  external 
circumstances  promptly  set  in  motion.  Because  the  child 
produces  melody  at  once,  it  does  not  follow  that  experience 
and  the  forming  of  ideas  have  not  preceded  it;  but  that 
environment  makes  available  an  experience  which  im- 
mensely increases  the  effectiveness  of  his  own. 

Since  language  ideas  are  more  universally  employed 
than  those  of  music,  they  are  of  great  assistance  in  teaching 
music.  By  employing  songs  where  language  ideas  already 
familiar  to  the  child  coincide  with  the  musical  ideas,  he  can 
be  led  to  the  proper  musical  interpretation.  The  child,  in 
singing  the  winter  or  autumn  song  described  in  Chapter 
III,  starts  with  the  thought  of  the  song  as  a  whole,  and 
finds  no  difficulty  in  relating  to  the  central  thought  what 
he  does  for  quality,  quantity,  rate,  and  articulation.    Thus, 


ooo'iar 


38  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

if  we  choose  an  expressive  song,  and  teach  the  child  to  sing 
it  so  as  to  bring  out  its  thought,  we  can  easily  make  him 
conscious  of  the  reason  for  employing  constitutive  ideas, 
and  develop  in  him  an  intelligent  notion  of  good  inter- 
pretation. 

On  the  other  hand,  what  is  done  with  reference  to  pitch, 
duration,  and  pulsation,  or  the  ideas  constitutive  of  struc- 
ture, is  not  easily  separated  and  made  distinct  in  the  move- 
ment of  the  music.  Hence  no  connection  can  be  made 
between  such  a  specific  act  and  its  effect  in  the  musicrl 
impression;  consequently  no  idea  can  be  formed.  What 
is  needed  to  form  such  ideas  is  something  that  will  guide 
the  pupil's  attention,  so  that,  while  he  is  feeling  the  swing 
and  go  of  the  music,  he  can  at  the  same  time  observe  a 
specific  form  or  act,  and  notice  its  influence  in  the  total 
effect  he  feels.  This  will  enable  the  pupil  to  develop  an 
idea  of  the  specific  act  or  form,  so  that  he  not  only  may  learn 
the  symbol  that  represents  it,  but  also  may  use  both  the 
symbol  and  the  ideas  in  recognizing  or  suggesting  new 
form  combinations  and  new  ideas. 

To  aid  in  accomplishing  this  end,  the  work  has  been 
divided  into  four  steps:  observing,  acting,  picturing,  and 
notation. 

In  the  first  step  the  child  is  led  to  observe  that  there  is 
something  in  connection  with  the  structure  of  the  tune  that 
is  appropriate  to  what  it  expresses.  This  something  may 
be  separated  into  the  three  kinds  of  musical  ideas  already 
referred  to:  (1)  the  metrical  grouping — the  succession  of 
pulses;  (2)  the  grouping  with  reference  to  tone  duration — 


HOW  IDEAS  ARE  DEVELOPED  39 

long  and  short  sounds;  (3)  the  grouping  with  reference  to 
pitch — popularly  described  in  terms  of  space  as  up  and 
down. 

If  the  child  has  observed  that  there  is  a  difference  be- 
tween the  "go"  of  his  slumber  song  and  that  of  his  march- 
ing song,  we  should  lead  him  to  discover  the  nature  of  this 
difference  by  letting  him  act  what  he  feels — the  second 
step — for  there  is  a  natural  and  intimate  correlation  be- 
tween movement  and  music;  they  mutually  define  each 
other.  One  might  not  be  able  to  tell  the  difference  between 
a  tune  in  three-part  and  one  in  four-part  meter,  but  if  he 
tried  to  move  to  these,  the  movement  itself  would  make 
him  conscious  of  the  difference.  At  the  same  time,  move- 
ment with  the  music  does  not  destroy  the  consciousness 
of  the  tone  structure  itself.  The  average  listener  may  not 
be  able  to  tell  what  constitutes  the  differences  in  tone 
length  and  grouping  between  Yankee  Doodle  and  America 
but  if  he  "claps"  the  sounds  as  he  sings  them,  by  con- 
centrating his  attention  on  what  he  is  doing  with  his  hands, 
he  can,  after  sufficient  trial,  realize  the  metrical  difference 
between  these  two  songs.  Thus  the  step  of  preliminary 
observation  is  made  more  intensive  by  combination  with 
action. 

When  the  ideas  have  become  distinct  in  consciousness 
as  forms  of  movement,  we  can  define  them  still  further  by 
diagram,  making  the  third  step.  Strong  and  weak  pulses 
may  be  represented  by  large  and  small  circles,  long  and 
short  tones  by  long  and  short  dashes,  the  idea  of  up  and 
down  by  dashes  of  different  elevation.    Thus  tone  ideas 


40  EDUCATION  THROUGH   MUSIC 

have  been  translated  into  movement  ideas,  and  these  have 
been  represented  pictorially. 

In  each  of  these  steps  the  music  is  being  sung  while  a 
given  tone  relationship  is  being  observed  by  means  of 
action,  picturing,  etc.,  so  that  there  is  no  break  between 
what  is  felt  as  music  and  that  which  is  representing  one  fea- 
ture of  its  structure.  We  can  now  pass  on  to  the  final  step, 
which  is  to  change  the  picture  of  the  tone  relationships  to 
the  notation  that  represents  the  same  ideas. 

Thus  the  fundamental  principle,  the  connection  between 
what  is  felt  and  that  which  expresses  it,  is  so  systematically 
evolved  by  means  of  the  four  steps  of  observing,  acting, 
picturing,  and  writing  the  symbols  that  the  dullest  pupil 
shall  not  be  left  behind. 

We  must  not  forget,  however,  that  the  act  of  appreciation 
itself  is  one  that  feels  the  beauty  of  all  the  parts  as  related 
to  a  complete  whole;  it  is  a  synthetic  and  not  an  analytic 
act.  Whenever  we  study  a  piece  of  music  we  are  only 
preparing  ourselves  for  appreciation.  The  objection  so 
often  made  that  the  study  of  an  art  work  by  drawing  atten- 
tion to  its  mechanism  destroys  its  imaginative  appeal  is 
well  taken,  for  the  analysis  of  a  work  of  art  involves  a 
different  mental  process  from  its  appreciation.  One  is 
the  scientific  attitude,  the  other  the  aesthetic.  One  cannot 
be  substituted  for  the  other.  The  individual,  fully  to 
realize  his  opportunity,  must  have  the  benefit  of  both 
methods  of  approach.  One  prepares  him;  the  other  gives 
him  the  fruition. 


CHAPTER  VI 

FIRST    YEAR    WORK:    AWAKENING    MUSICAL 

IDEAS 

first  stage:  rhythm  work 

If  all  the  children  entering  the  first  year  of  school  could 
bring  the  same  inheritance  of  musical  talent  and  the  same 
amount  of  experience  through  its  exercise,  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  music  work  would  be  comparatively  simple; 
but,  unfortunately,  both  of  these  factors  vary  widely  in  in- 
dividuals. 

Children  in  the  first  year  represent  perhaps  greater  vari- 
ations in  musical  ability  than  in  any  other  subject  of  the 
curriculum.  If  music  were  a  study  carried  on  individu- 
ally, it  might  still  be  possible  to  adjust  the  work  to  such 
widely  varying  ability,  but  this  subject,  unlike  all  other 
school  activities  is  too  often  expressed  only  collectively. 
Hence  the  untalented  children  affect  not  only  their  own 
work,  but  also  that  of  the  talented. 

The  ordinary  procedure  of  the  school  is  to  start  at  once 
with  the  song.  Experience  shows  that  out  of  a  room  of 
thirty  pupils,  approximately  one-sixth  catch  the  air  im- 
mediately and  soon  become  leaders.  One-third  manage 
to  mumble  along  after  the  leaders  and  to  add  something 


42  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

to  the  total  tone  of  the  room.  Another  third  take  still 
longer  to  fall  in  and  are  quicker  in  going  astray,  while  one- 
sixth  at  first  seem  hopeless.  The  visitor  listening  to  such 
a  room  will  not  be  aware  that  the  effect  of  the  song  is  not 
the  result  of  the  total  activity  of  the  class;  but,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  real  work  is  done  by  the  few  leaders,  with  a 
more  or  less  intelligent  following  of  the  second  group,  and 
the  decidedly  unintelligent  help  of  the  third.  The  result  of 
such  work  is  to  educate  most  effectively  those  who  are 
already  leaders,  to  do  something  for  the  second  class,  oc- 
casionally to  bring  up  one  from  the  third  to  the  second 
group,  and  to  do  nothing  for  the  remainder,  thus  making 
greater  rather  than  less  the  difference  between  musical  and 
nonmusical  children. 

When  one  considers  that  music  work  should  be  the  con- 
certed act  of  the  entire  class,  and  that  it  is  the  business  of 
the  school  so  to  arrange  it  that  all  shall  be  equally  benefited, 
one  must  admit  that  the  procedure  just  described  will 
hardly  satisfy  the  demands  of  good  organization.  Instead 
of  appealing  merely  to  those  who  are  musically  the  most 
talented,  a  form  of  work  should  be  undertaken  that  will 
awaken  musical  thought  and  expression  in  the  large  major- 
ity of  the  class. 

Children  entering  the  first  year,  unaccustomed  to  school 
life,  are  shy,  and  since  they  have  sung  but  little  they  cannot 
easily  discover  the  singing  voice.  The  act  of  singing  is  a 
comparatively  strange  one  to  most  children. 

But  there  is  a  simpler  and  more  primitive  form  of  musical 
expression,  which  finds  its  vent  in  rhythmical  action.    Such 


FIRST  YEAR  WORK  43 

expression  of  musical  feeling  is  not  so  much  by  means  of 
voice  as  by  movements, — for  instance,  walking,  marking 
time  with  the  hand,  the  foot  or  the  head,  swaying  the 
body, — movements  all  of  a  simple  character  thoroughly 
within  the  control  of  the  pupils.  By  selecting  some  very 
simple  songs  like  Hot  Cross  Buns  or  London  Bridge,  Jack 
and  Jill  or  Little  Bo  Peep,  we  have  material  in  the  swing 
and  go  of  which  we  can  easily  interest  the  children.  If  the 
song  is  such  that  movement  is  an  idea  suggested  in  it  as, 
for  example,  a  cradle  song,  a  marching  song,  a  wind  song, 
or  one  of  the  songs  expressive  of  various  occupations,  the 
motion  can  be  made  much  more  suggestive. 

But  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  point  of  the  action 
is  not  to  dramatize  the  song.  Dramatic  activity  in  connec- 
tion with  singing  is  prone  to  lead  away  from  the  thought  of 
the  musical  movement  to  something  more  readily  suggested 
by  the  words,  and  hence  be  an  element  of  distraction  rather 
than  an  aid.  The  aim  is  rather  to  get  all  the  children  in 
the  class  interested  in  what  is  going  on,  some  in  the  com- 
plete song,  others  in  its  rhythm,  all  in  musical  movement, — 
not  alone  in  ideas  that  may  be  suggested  in  the  text. 

This  work  has  no  analytical  aspect;  the  children  do  not 
know  how  to  tell  what  they  are  doing;  they  simply  march, 
swing  or  clap  in  harmony.  The  teacher  will  soon  discover 
those  who  are  musically  deficient,  and  a  large  part  of  her 
time  will  be  taken  up  in  bringing  these  laggards  into  the 
rhythmic  fold  where  they  can  be  benefited  by  the  exercises 
of  the  class.  Such  work  does  not  give  the  kind  of  musical 
results  that  make  a  favorable  impression  on  visitors  and 


44  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

principals,  but  it  is  a  much  more  honest  effort  toward  the 
ideal  of  what  public  school  work  should  be  than  is  the 
course  ordinarily  followed,  which  is  to  give  to  those  that 
have  and  to  slight  those  that  have  not. 

SECOND   STAGE:   VOICE   WORK 

After  a  period  varying  from  three  to  six  weeks,  during 
which  the  main  effort  is  to  unify  the  class  and  have  the 
children  realize  that  everyone  can  do  something  in  the 
singing  hour,  the  teacher  may  enter  upon  the  second  stage 
in  the  organization  of  the  music  work.  This  deals  with 
the  tone  quality  which  is  based  on  the  principle  that  the 
quality  of  the  voice  naturally  expresses  the  idea  calling  it 
forth.  Older  persons  learn  to  belie  themselves  in  this  re- 
spect, but  the  child's  voice  responds  with  a  charming  frank- 
ness to  the  imaginative  or  emotional  conditions  by  which 
he  is  influenced. 

This  fact  gives  us  the  clue  for  the  first  steps  in  voice 
training,  and  at  the  same  time  is  in  harmony  with  the 
fundamental  principle  underlying  all  the  work,  i.  e.,  to  de- 
velop the  form  as  always  expressing  an  idea.  Listen  to  the 
little  girl  asking  permission  from  her  mother  to  go  out  to 
play,  and  to  the  same  little  girl  arguing  with  her  mother 
after  she  has  been  refused.  Here  we  have  expressive  voice; 
idea  and  form  are  closely  related.  Give  a  child  such 
a  little  song  sentence  as,  "Good  morning,  my  dearest 
Mamma."  Let  it  be  sung  and  you  will  probably  have  a 
thin,  meaningless,  coarse  or  squeaky  tone;  but  awaken 
in  the  child  the  thought  of  her  mother  and  of  how  much 


FIRST  YEAR  WORK  45 

she  loves  her,  get  her  to  feel  that  she  is  singing  good 
morning  to  her, — and  then  let  the  song  be  sung  again; 
there  will  be  a  magical  change  in  its  tone  quality. 

Such  work  demands  that  the  song  material  selected  shall 
have  some  emotional  element.  Songs  about  facts  of  nature 
which  awaken  no  feeling  in  the  child,  descriptions  that  are 
more  concerned  with  the  statement  of  facts  than  with 
arousing  feeling,  are  difficult  material  for  voice  work.  The 
changing  seasons,  fall,  winter,  and  spring,  bring  with  them 
hundreds  of  apt  occasions,  from  the  falling  of  the  leaves  to 
the  appearance  of  the  pussy  willows,  thus  furnishing  in- 
cidents that  prove  extremely  interesting  for  the  time  being. 
A  song  well  chosen  in  this  respect  has  large  expressive 
possibilities  for  the  voice.  Again :  the  festivities  of  the  year, 
like  the  Thanksgiving  season,  Christmas,  Easter,  and  the 
patriotic  days,  give  scope  for  the  musical  work  that  makes 
it  possible  to  awaken  an  emotional  interest  sufficiently 
strong  for  the  most  effective  tone  training. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  response  in  the  child 
is  automatic.  The  emotional  interest  is  awakened  not 
simply  to  make  the  work  interesting  to  the  child,  but  for 
the  effect  it  has  on  the  voice.  This  result  is  obtained  by 
continually  drawing  his  attention  to  the  thought  that  the 
voice  quality  and  modulation  must  be  true  to  what  he  is 
uttering.  In  doing  this  we  are  awakening  in  him  a  sen- 
sitiveness to  truth  of  expression  which  is  fundamental  not 
only  to  all  his  appreciation  of  music  but  to  his  intercourse 
with  his  fellow  beings.  Such  voice  training  becomes  not 
simply  music  work,  but  one  of  the  basic  activities  in  which 


46  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

the  child  must  be  trained  the  first  year.  What  should  all 
the  school  work  amount  to  but  to  enable  the  child  ad- 
equately to  express  himself  ?  Music,  like  the  other  studies, 
supplies  but  the  necessary  facts  and  means  for  such  ex- 
pression. In  the  voice  we  have  a  beautiful  organ,  most 
delicately  adjusted,  and  through  the  niceties  of  its  cultiva- 
tion we  can  awaken  the  keenest  sensitiveness  to  the  truth 
of  what  is  expressed  and  its  expression  as  well. 

Every  word  that  the  teacher  utters  should  be  a  good 
example  in  this  respect.  Every  answer  of  the  child  gives 
opportunity  for  training  in  this  true  music  of  life,  for  lan- 
guage becomes  musical  as  it  becomes  expressive.  The 
spoken  word  does  not  emphasize  the  vowel  tone  but  draws 
attention  to  the  consonant;  singing  reverses  this  process 
and  draws  attention  to  the  vowel.  Singing  and  speaking 
are  therefore  mutually  helpful.  In  order  to  sing  intel- 
ligently, the  niceties  of  the  consonant  must  be  studied  in 
speech;  to  speak  expressively,  attention  must  be  given  to 
the  vowel  tone  of  song;  and  back  of  both  these  effects,  the 
idea  of  which  these  are  the  means  of  expression  must  be 
real  and  vivid. 

Training  in  these  ideas  of  interpretation,  awakening 
sensitiveness  to  the  way  in  which  the  thing  is  done  should 
not  be  limited  to  songs  nor  to  the  singing  period.  Short 
phrases  and  words  should  be  repeated  and  the  children 
made  conscious  of  the  differences  to  which  they  have  un- 
consciously been  responding.  A  word  like  "No,"  for  ex- 
ample, can  be  made  to  convey  half  a  dozen  shades  of  mean- 
ing, from  an  absolute  refusal  to  a  practical  consent. 


FIRST  YEAR  WORK  47 

In  this  work  lies  the  opportunity  for  the  so-called 
"monotone,"  the  child  who  cannot  sing,  whose  difficulty 
generally  is  that  he  is  unable  to  grasp  and  prolong  the 
vowel.  He  can  be  asked  to  repeat  his  name  as  the  teacher 
does,  prolonging  the  vowel  and  turning  it  into  a  singing 
tone.  Two-syllable  names  can  thus  be  sung  on  the  tones 
soh,  doh,  or  the  tonic  dominant,  each  child  standing  until 
he  can  imitate  the  teacher's  call  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
class.  The  imitation  of  whistles  and  the  sounds  of  nature, 
as  water  and  wind,  gives  to  the  skillful  teacher  a  great 
variety  of  opportunity  for  awakening  consciousness  of 
tone  in  the  backward  members  of  her  class. 

Gradually,  from  the  consideration  of  tone  and  its  connec 
tion  with  the  meaning,  attention  can  be  drawn  to  beautiful 
tone  as  significant  in  itself;  but  the  order  of  work  should 
always  be  from  the  practical  expressive  use  to  its  use  for 
technical  purposes.  In  singing  exercises  to  vowels,  for  ex- 
ample, the  attempt  should  be  made  to  have  the  vowel  sound 
as  beautiful  as  possible.  This  technical  and  abstract  vowel 
work,  contrary  to  the  practice  of  many,  should  follow  and 
reenforce  the  tone  work  of  the  song  rather  than  precede  it, 
as  would  naturally  be  done  with  mature  students. 

While  what  has  been  said  applies  to  the  work  as  a  whole 
with  reference  to  its  underlying  principle,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary for  the  teacher  to  study  each  child's  voice  individually. 
There  will  be  some  children  with  strident,  piercing  voices, 
and  others  with  gruff,  chest-tone  qualities,  very  often  the 
result  of  habits  formed  while  having  a  cold;  then  there  will 
be  the  feeble,  undeveloped  voices.    While  the  principle 


48  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

will  remain  the  same,  the  instruction  will  vary  according 
to  the  needs  of  the  pupils. 

The  practice  of  suppressing  the  children's  voices  in  order 
to  attain  the  so-called  sweet  tone,  while  it  avoids  injuring 
the  voices  by  strain,  leaves  them  undeveloped  and  un- 
expressive,  and  the  tone  of  the  whole  room  becomes 
"breathy"  and  without  character.  Quantity  of  tone  is  as 
much  a  part  of  expression  as  quality.  Children  love  to 
shout  and  to  sing  loud  and  it  is  good  for  them  to  do  so,  but 
it  must  be  significant  and  controlled  sound,  not  senseless 
noise.  The  teacher  need  not  be  afraid  of  voice  strain  if  the 
tunes  are  properly  pitched,  that  is,  sufficiently  high  to  avoid 
the  use  of  the  chest  tone.  The  constant  tendency  of  the 
teacher  to  judge  the  pitch  of  the  tune  by  her  own  vocal 
feeling  is  often  misleading.  The  children's  vocal  organs 
are  smaller  than  those  of  a  grown  person,  and  are  conse- 
quently higher  pitched,  as  the  piccolo  ranges  higher  than 
the  flute  because  it  is  smaller.  Hence  unless  the  teacher  is 
very  sure  of  herself,  the  pitch  of  the  tunes  should  be  de- 
cided by  the  needs  of  the  class,  which  may  sometimes 
require  the  giving  of  the  pitch  higher  than  it  is  written. 
Tunes  requiring  force  on  low  tones  should  be  avoided. 
But  phases  of  the  question  that  deal  with  the  means  of  ex- 
pressive voice,  the  pitch  of  tunes,  the  avoidance  of  pieces 
that  are  unsuitable,  and  the  attention  that  should  be  given 
to  the  individual  qualities  of  the  student,  are  problems  for 
the  teacher.  All  that  the  child  is  asked  to  do  has  reference 
to  expressive  purpose.  By  these  means  pure  tone  is 
developed. 


FIRST  YEAR  WORK 


49 


THIRD   STAGE:  PITCH,   DURATION,   AND  PULSE 

The  second  stage  in  the  organization  of  school  work  is 
connected  entirely  with  ideas  arising  out  of  the  interpre- 
tative aspect  of  music.  This  aspect,  however,  cannot  be 
long  pursued  before  it  leads  back  to  structural  ideas. 
After  a  few  weeks,  therefore,  we  begin  a  class  of  work  which 
has  an  entirely  distinct  aim,  i.  e.,  to  make  the  pupils 
gradually  conscious  not  only  of  the  material  of  expression, 
but  also  of  the  structure  of  the  forms,  the  interpretation  of 
which  they  have  been  studying.  This  is  the  third  stage  in 
the  organization  of  music  work. 

Such  a  song  sentence  as  Gently  Rocks  My  Light  Canoe 
can  be  given.  After  the  song  has  been  sung  correctly,  it 
may  be  repeated,  the  upper  tones  being  sung  a  third  or  an 
octave  higher  than  they  are  written.  By  this  means  the 
children  discover  that  the  up  and  down  movement  of 
the  tones  has  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  interpretation  of 
the  words  "gently  rocks." 


$ 


=t 


± 


Gen     -     tly        rocks      my         light        ca    -    noe. 

The  children  quickly  grasp  the  significance  in  the  struc- 
ture of  Birdie  Fly  as  compared  with  Raindrops  Fall;  and 
the  relation  of  the  tune  to  the  words  in  Down  Come  the 
A  utumn  Leaves  and  Up  Goes  My  Pretty  Kite  is  at  once  felt. 


5° 


EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 


fe 


Rain  -  drops      small 


down  -  ward       fall. 


m 


ji 


m 


^3 


i" 


i- 


Up    goes  my    pret  -  ty     kite     in      the    blue    sky. 


r: * 4      i  g  , — i 


Down  come  the     au- tumn  leaves  whirl-ing       a  -  round. 


In  order  to  make  the  contrast  more  striking,  the  words 
and  tunes  of  the  last  four  songs  may  be  exchanged,  when 
the  absurdity  of  trying  to  express  the  thought  of  the  ascend- 
ing kite  by  the  tune  of  the  falling  leaves,  or  the  raindrop 
song  by  that  of  Birdie  Fly  will  be  felt  by  even  the  most 
obtuse  member  of  the  class.  What  makes  this  difference 
is  a  problem  that  the  little  children  do  not  take  long  to 
solve.  Ideas  of  direction  and  extent  of  direction  are  thus 
made  apparent,  and  when  once  clearly  observed  are  acted 
out,  the  hand  showing  by  its  movements  not  only  the  direc- 
tion of  each  tone  from  the  preceding,  but  in  a  general  way 
the  extent  of  direction.  After  much  practice  in  this  kind 
of  observation  of  suitable  songs,  selections  may  be  taken  in 
which  the  melody  is  not  so  baldly  expressive  of  the  pitch 
movement.  The  idea  once  gained  of  tone  movement  with 
reference  to  direction  and  extent,  it  is  not  difficult  for  the 
children  to  apply  their  powers  of  observing  and  acting  to 
the  movement  of  any  melody. 

But  this  is  only  one  phase  of  the  musical  idea.    Now 


FIRST  YEAR  WORK  51 

that  attention  has  been  drawn  to  tone  direction,  it  can 
easily  be  turned  towards  tone  duration.  Some  quickly 
moving  tune  like  Yankee  Doodle  or  a  wind  song  com- 
pared with  the  slow  moving  tones  of  a  lullaby,  will  cause 
the  children  to  observe  a  difference  in  movement;  they  can 
clap  this  difference,  thus  making  themselves  more  distinctly 
conscious  of  its  nature.  This  is  generally  spoken  of  as 
"clapping  the  words."  The  children  are  conscious  that 
the  speed  and  movement  of  the  tones  are  factors  in  the 
structure  of  the  tunes  which  decide  their  expressive  char- 
acter, that  there  is  something  appropriate  in  the  grouping 
of  tones  of  See  Saw  as  compared  with  Little  Bo  Peep 
quite  apart  from  the  exigencies  of  the  syllables.  After  the 
idea  is  once  grasped,  through  its  significance  the  more 
abstract  idea  of  variation  in  tone  duration  itself  can  be 
reached,  and  children  can  now  clap  the  words  to  any  tune 
and  be  made  to  observe  the  tones  in  their  relationship  to 
one  another,  as  long  and  short,  or  in  their  durational  value. 

We  are  now  ready  to  observe  the  most  fundamental  and 
at  the  same  time  the  most  abstract  element  in  tone  group- 
ing; that  which  has  reference  to  the  pulse  or  metrical  ele- 
ment of  tunes.  Here  the  connection  between  expressive 
values  cannot  be  made  so  clear.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
phenomenon  itself  is  much  more  simple.  What  we  wish 
the  children  to  know,  i.  c.,  that  there  is  a  steady  pulsation 
running  through  music,  we  can  make  them  conscious  of 
by  letting  them  keep  step  or  mark  time. 

Children  have  plays  that  bring  out  this  idea:  the  various 
"counting  out"  games,  for  instance,  such  as  "Eeny,  meeny, 


52 


EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 


miny,  mo,"  where  the  metrical  grouping  depends  upon  the 
regular  recurring  pulse.  Perhaps  more  effective  still  is 
to  have  the  class  play  they  are  a  band.  While  the  musical 
children  carry  the  air,  those  who  need  development  of  the 
metrical  sense  give  various  drum  beats,  the  little  drums 
marking  all  the  pulses,  the  larger  ones  only  every  other 
accent,  while  the  largest  of  all  give  only  the  strongest  ac- 
cents. Or  if  toy  instruments  can  be  procured,  drums, 
cymbals,  triangles,  and  tambourines  may  be  used  to  ad- 
vantage. Thus  the  feeling  of  grouping,  the  relation  of 
pulses  to  one  another  and  their  regularity,  are  readily  and 
practically  brought  home.  The  children  get  so  interested 
in  such  work  that  the  unmusical  ones  have  been  observed 
in  process  of  being  coached  by  the  more  musical  during 
recess. 

The  difference  between  this  work  and  that  done  at  the 
opening  of  the  school  is  that  in  the  early  work  no  attempt 
was  made  to  observe  the  phenomenon  itself.  It  was  merely 
a  means  to  get  the  pupils  to  join  in  the  music.  Now  we 
wish  to  have  them  notice  the  effect  itself.  Mother  Goose 
songs  supply  good  material,  especially  those  in  compound 
or  six-eight  meter.  In  these  the  two  large  swings  that  throb 
through  each  measure  are  easily  felt  and  acted.  The  same 
grouping  of  two  can  be  applied  to  most  four-pulse  meter, 
as  well  as  to  all  two-pulse  and  many  three-pulse  meters, 
especially  those  that  are  written  for  children.  The  three- 
part  songs  may  be  treated  as  if  they  were  compound,  and 
acted  in  the  same  way  as  the  six-eight  song. 

It  will  be  noticed  from  this  enumeration  that  the  object 


FIRST  YEAR  WORK  53 

is,  not  to  discover  the  metrical  signature,  but  simply  to 
make  the  children  conscious  of  the  fundamental  swing,  like 
that  of  a  pendulum,  which  runs  through  the  music.  Along 
with  this  song  work  the  same  principle  of  observation  and 
acting  can  be  applied  to  the  recitation  of  Mother  Goose 
rhymes  and  jingles.  Valuable  discriminating  thought  can 
be  awakened  by  repeating  Jack  and  Jill  first  marking  every 
beat  of  the  foot,  then  marking  only  the  strong  beat,  and 
finally  grouping  and  marking  only  every  other  foot. 

Poetic  rhythm  v  v  v 

Third  v  v  v  v 

Second  v  v  v  vvvvv 

First  v      v      v        v     v   >•       vv      vv^^ww 

Jack  and  Jill  went  up  the  hill  to  fetch  a  pail  of  wa  -  ter. 

The  children  will  feel  the  choppy  effect  of  the  first  and 
second  ways,  and  choose  the  third. 

If  we  examine  the  illustration  of  Jack  and  Jill  closely, 
we  shall  find  that  there  is  a  still  higher  rhythm — that  which 
deals  with  the  thought.  Like  the  others,  it  presents  a 
series  of  large  pulsations,  but  instead  of  grouping  these 
pulses  mechanically  on  the  basis  of  the  foot,  it  prolongs  or 
hurries  these  as  the  thought  may  require:  for  instance, 
Jack  and  Jill  would  form  the  first  group;  went  up  the  hill, 
the  second;  and  to  fetch  a  pail  0}  water,  the  third.  Thus 
Jill,  hill,  and  water  would  form  the  climaxes  of  these  pulse 
waves.  In  order  to  make  these  of  equal  proportions,  the 
second  group  must  be  uttered  a  little  faster  than  the  first, 
and  the  third  considerably  faster  still.  Thus  three  pulses 
would  take  the  place  of  four.  Thought  grouping  is  of 
prime  importance  in  serious  poetry,  where  the  rhythm  is  a 


54  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

helpmeet  to  the  thought,  and  justifies  Professor  Scrip- 
ture's contention  with  reference  to  the  true  nature  of  poetic 
rhythm. 

The  purpose  of  the  work  suggested  here,  however,  is  to 
arouse  in  the  average,  or  those  below  the  average,  that 
feeling  of  regularity  in  succession  which  is  the  necessary 
basis  of  sensitiveness  to  the  truly  artistic  use  of  rhythm. 
The  child  who  is  unable  to  regulate  rhythmically  his  phys- 
ical movements,  such  as  walking  and  clapping,  will  later 
be  pretty  sure  to  find  difficulty  in  extending  and  com- 
pressing the  foot  in  poetry  as  is  essential  in  order  to  mani- 
fest the  true  poetic  rhythm.  As  a  means  of  strengthening 
the  sense  of  recurring  pulsation,  there  is  great  value  in 
employing  jingles  such  as  Mother  Goose  supplies,  where 
evidently  the  pleasure  consists  in  the  rhythm  rather  than 
in  the  thought  expressed.  The  reason  that  the  majority 
of  people  read  poetry  in  a  sing-song  which  disregards  the 
true  flow  of  the  lines  is  because  the  rhythmic  sense  is  so 
undeveloped  that  they  rely  on  the  mechanical  regularity 
of  the  foot  to  steady  them.  It  is  the  nonmusical  dancer 
who  is  most  dependent  upon  uniform  tempo  in  the  music; 
he  who  is  truly  musical  and  has  perfect  command  over 
himself  can  readily  accelerate  or  retard  his  movements  to 
accord  with  the  artistic  interpretation  of  the  music. 

There  can  be  no  more  genuine  musical  training  than 
awakening  and  making  the  pupils  sensitive  to  the  true 
pulse  in  both  music  and  poetry.  Some  children  will  find 
difficulty  in  catching  even  the  dogtrot  of  the  iambic  foot, 
and  it  is  only  by  appealing  first  to  the  mechanical  regular 


FIRST  YEAR  WORK  55 

grouping  that  they  can  be  taught  to  vary  this  as  may  be 
needful  for  the  sympathetic  rendering  of  whatever  may  be 
the  music  in  hand. 

With  reference  to  the  three  aspects  of  study  here  de- 
scribed,— pulsation,  duration,  and  pitch, — it  will  be  ob- 
served that  we  have  gone  through  the  first  two  stages  of 
the  process  outlined  in  the  preceding  chapter,  i.  e.,  those 
of  observation  and  acting.  Yet  the  aim  of  the  work  has  not 
been  to  make  the  pupils  analytically  accurate  with  refer- 
ence to  tone  relationship. 

The  important  point  was  not  that  the  tones  moved  in 
seconds  or  octaves,  but  in  small  or  large  skips;  not  in  halves, 
quarters,  or  eighths,  but  in  long  or  short  tones;  not  in  two- 
part  or  three-part  meter,  in  four-part  or  six,  but  that  there 
was  a  regular  pulsation  in  all  music,  which  when  recognized 
made  it  go  easily.  We  have  been  aiming  at  fundamental 
ideas  rather  than  at  analysis. 

The  principle  can  be  similarly  carried  on  to  a  rather 
rough  and  ready  picturing  of  these  three  effects  by  using 
dashes  at  different  heights  to  represent  pitch,  dashes  of 
different  lengths  for  duration,  and  large  and  small  circles 
for  strong  and  weak  pulses. 

The  idea  of  musical  structure,  felt  as  a  "go"  or  move- 
ment, is  developed,  as  we  have  already  shown,  through  the 
recognition  of  tone  relationships.  The  difficulty  has  al- 
ways been  that  when  a  relationship  simple  enough  to  be 
grasped  has  been  presented,  the  musical  movement  for 
which  it  exists  has  been  lost.  When  the  child  is  thinking 
out  how  the  first  three  tones  of  America  arc  related  to  one 


56  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

another  with  reference  to  pulse  and  pitch,  he  is  pretty  sure 
to  forget  that  they  have  to  do  with  the  design  of  the  tune. 
On  the  other  hand,  when  pitch,  duration,  and  stress  rela- 
tionships are  presented  as  materials  out  of  which  music  is 
made,  as  scales  and  time  exercises,  only  musical  pupils  are 
able  to  make  the  connection  between  the  material  and  the 
structure  it  forms,  or  to  recognize  it  in  the  music  they  hear. 
The  processes  above  described  start  and  end  with  the  mu- 
sical passage,  and  while  they  detach  by  action  or  picture 
some  one  feature  of  the  movement  and  make  it  possible 
for  the  pupil  to  develop  that  phase  of  the  idea,  the  passage 
as  a  whole  is  being  sung  or  heard  at  the  same  time,  so  that 
relationship  to  the  whole  is  never  lost. 


My 

Coun    ■ 

■    try, 

'tis 

of 

thee 

Picture  of: 
a     pitch 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

b     duration  - 

pulse 


XTnoor* 


But  the  description  of  pitch  differences  in  terms  of  space, 
while  serving  well  enough  for  the  first  presentation,  is 
neither  accurate  nor  sufficiently  true  to  experience.  We  can 
describe  the  difference  between  the  octave  of  a  tone  and 
the  seventh  by  saying  that  the  former  is  a  trifle  higher,  but 


FIRST  YEAR  WORK  57 

the  difference  in  effect  is  much  greater  than  the  distance 
idea  suggests.  In  other  words,  various  tones,  owing  to 
their  relation  to  the  key  tone,  take  to  themselves  certain 
qualities  derived  from  key  feeling.  If  the  pupil  is  to  hear 
accurately,  he  must  be  able  to  recognize  these  qualities 
due  to  key  feeling.  In  order  to  do  this  he  must  be  able  to 
hear  them  not  as  effects  in  the  general  flow  of  the  melodic 
movement  but  associated  with  the  individual  tones  that 
produce  them.  The  first  step  in  this  recognition  is  a 
difficult  task  for  all  except  musical  people.  Hence  to  ac- 
complish it,  a  device  dating  back  to  the  eleventh  century 
is  employed,  i.  e.,  associating  the  tones  with  what  are  called 
sound  names,  so  that  a  tone  occupying  a  given  place  in  a 
key  will  always  be  sung  by  a  given  name.  In  this  way  the 
key  qualities  of  the  tone  are  gradually  associated  with  the 
name,  and  when  the  tone  is  heard  in  its  musical  relation- 
ship, the  key  feeling  suggests  the  name  and  thus  defines 
it  for  the  mind;  or,  when  the  sign  that  suggests  the  name  is 
seen,  it  so  brings  to  mind  the  key  feeling  associated  with  it 
that  it  is  possible  to  think  or  sing  the  tone. 

It  is  obvious  that  in  order  to  use  such  a  device  effectively, 
the  singing  of  these  names  in  connection  with  the  tones  as 
they  occur  in  music,  must  be  practiced,  forming  the  nec- 
essary association,  and  the  less  musical  the  pupil  the  more 
is  this  essential.  The  ordinary  way  of  starting  out  with 
these  sound  names  and  forcing  an  association  with  them 
entirely  from  the  scale  aspect  of  the  tones,  makes  of  the 
connections  a  set  and  artificial  grouping.  This,  although 
well  enough  for  exercises  written  for  the  beginner  or  for 


58  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

the  scale  idea,  tends  to  break  down  in  the  free  movement 
of  tones  as  they  actually  occur  in  songs,  the  very  time 
when  its  help  is  most  required.  In  other  words,  the  expe- 
rience which  is  to  form  the  associations  between  the  tones 
and  their  musical  qualities  is  too  narrow  and  artificial. 

What  is  needed  to  make  the  device  successful  is  a  wider 
experience  for  forming  a  more  accurate  association.  To 
supply  this  we  very  early  in  the  year  connect  with  the 
simplest  song  sentences,  after  they  have  been  thoroughly 
learned,  their  sound  names.  For  example,  after  the  child 
has  sung  Gently  Rocks  My  Light  Canoe  and  has  thor- 
oughly learned  the  expressive  qualities  of  the  tones  with 
reference  to  the  idea  expressed,  the  same  two  tones  are 
sung  as  doh*  re,  and  he  associates  these  names  with  the  key 
feeling  that  these  tones  awaken.  This  process  is  kept  up 
through  the  year,  the  sound  names  being  used  not  as  is 
ordinarily  done,  to  suggest  the  tone  required,  but— after 
the  tone  is  learned  and  its  quality  is  thoroughly  in  mind, 
for  the  sake  of  connecting  these  qualities  with  the  names  by 
which  we  later  wish  to  suggest  them. 

The  sound  names,  though  they  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  expressive  rendering  of  the  song  and  hence  seem  incon- 
sistent with  the  principles  we  are  following,  are,  in  this 
case,  connected  with  the  tones  after  their  expressive  values 

*  The  phonetic  spelling  used  for  the  syllable  names  in  this  work  is  that 
employed  in  Tonic  Soh-fa  method,  with  the  exception  of  the  syllables  for 
the  second,  third,  and  seventh  and  fourth  and  fifth  sharped  of  the  scale, 
for  which  the  American  spelling  of  re,  mi,  ti,  fi,  and  si  is  adopted  in  order 
to  avoid  confusion  with  the  usage  in  this  country.  The  value  of  the  Tonic 
Soh-fa  spelling  tending  to  keep  a  pure  vowel  tone,  is  obvious. 


FIRST  YEAR  WORK  59 

are  felt.  They  are  not  an  aid  in  the  present  work,  but 
preparation  for  more  complex  work  to  follow. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  three  stages  of  work  so  far 
outlined  all  grow  out  of  song  material  and  hence  imply  that 
actual  song  singing  is  the  larger  part  and  the  most  im- 
portant feature  of  the  work.  What  has  been  described 
with  reference  to  tone  relationships  has  grown  out  of  the 
song  work  and  is  necessary  for  the  organization  of  the  ex- 
perience. Such  observation  of  song  material  as  has  been 
described  follows  the  song  singing  after  its  full  expressive 
value  has  been  developed.  Observation  that  some  of  the 
tones  are  high  or  low,  or  long  or  short  follows  the  learning 
of  the  song  and  awakens  new  features  of  interest. 

But  this  is  not  all.  These  observations  help  the  child  in 
learning  new  songs  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year.  Instead 
of  repeating  passages  to  be  taught  over  and  over  until 
there  is  an  automatic  memory  of  them,  the  child's  obser- 
vational powers  are  directed  by  means  of  the  devices  used. 
For  instance,  in  teaching  a  new  song  the  children  are  asked 
at  the  outset  to  notice  whether  the  tones  go  up  or  down, 
whether  in  wide  skips  or  little  skips,  whether  they  move 
rapidly  or  in  long-sustained  tones.  Thus  the  process  of 
musical  observation  is  developed  and  musical  passages 
are  quickly  grasped.  The  pupils  feel  the  force  of  the  worlc 
done  in  aiding  them  to  observe  how  the  tones  go,  and  a 
keen  competition  is  awakened  in  the  exercise  of  their  new 
powers  of  tone  discrimination.  To  go  on  teaching  songs 
through  mechanical  repetition  after  the  children  have 
begun  to  observe  definite  features  is  like  supplying  tools 


6o  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

without  giving  opportunity  to  use  them.  They  fail  to 
apply  what  they  have  learned  and  miss  the  exhilaration 
and  interest  that  this  might  awaken. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  year  the  pupils  should  have  a  keen 
feeling  both  for  tone  quality  and  for  its  expressive  use  in 
connection  with  their  songs,  in  other  words,  for  interpre- 
tative ideas.  Experience  has  shown  that  the  way  the  song 
goes,  or  its  structural  idea  is  due  to  the  grouping  of  the 
tones  in  pulses,  with  reference  to  their  being  long  or  short 
and  with  reference  to  high  or  low.  And  they  have  formed 
associations  between  the  tones  of  their  songs  and  the  sound 
names  of  these  tones,  so  that  when  the  first  and  second  of 
the  scale  are  sung,  doh,  re  come  tc  the  mind. 

All  knowledge  gained  has  been  in  the  form  of  experience 
in  acting  and  picturing  songs,  playing  with  the  material  in 
its  constructive  aspect  without  analyzing  it.  If  the  work 
of  this  year  has  been  successfully  carried  out,  an  effective 
basis  of  experience  has  been  laid  for  a  more  accurate  and 
definite  observation  of  tone  as  used  in  the  music  necessary 
for  the  more  advanced  work  of  the  second  year. 


CHAPTER  VII 

SECOND  YEAR  WORK:  DEFINING  INTERPRE- 
TATIVE AND  STRUCTURAL  IDEAS 

The  first  stage  deals  with  the  interpretative  idea,  the 
expressive  use  of  song;  the  second  individualizes  the  tone  of 
the  key;  the  third  carries  the  rhythmic  thought  to  the  point 
where  notation  can  be  considered,  and  the  fourth  intro- 
duces the  staff.  The  rest  of  the  year  combines  this  material 
and  adds  one  distinct  feature  which  also  requires  the  union 
of  all  the  previous  knowledge,  that  is,  the  practice  of  song 
making. 

first  stage:  voice  work 

In  the  first  of  these  four  stages,  dealing  with  the  inter- 
pretative idea,  the  children  learn  that  songs  are  expressive. 
In  Chapter  V  it  is  stated  that  the  good  tone  gained  in  the 
first  year  is  an  automatic  response  to  proper  imaginative 
and  emotional  conditions.  Through  constant  attention  the 
children  not  only  have  been  getting  experience  in  effective 
singing  but  have  also  been  forming  good  habits.  They 
are  now  a  year  older;  the  shyness  of  the  first  year  has 
disappeared  and  the  change  in  maturity  is  greater  than  in 
older  pupils.    They  can  be  made  conscious  of  some  of  the 

6i 


62  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

simpler  technical  steps  necessary  to  get  good  tonal  results, 
and  systematic  effort  can  be  made  to  correct  tonal  faults. 

The  study  of  the  vowel  is  now  introduced  and  the  chil- 
dren begin  to  learn  that  of  the  various  sounds  that  make 
up  syllables  and  words,  one  is  chosen  for  the  singing  tone 
while  the  other  sounds  come  in  very  quickly  before  and 
after  as  the  syllable  requires.  Take,  for  instance,  the 
word  "My"  it  consists  of  three  sounds:  a  humming  sound, 
required  by  the  m  followed  by  a  as  in  father  and  i  as  in  ill. 
A  good  singer  makes  the  first  and  last  quickly  while  the  a 
is  the  sound  on  which  the  word  is  sung.  If  the  pupils 
try  singing  My  Country  'Tis  of  Thee  they  will  find  that 
many,  instead  of  singing  on  the  tone  a  go  on  to  the  tone  i 
and  this  not  only  makes  the  word  sound  badly,  as  if  it  had 
two  syllables,  but  also  requires  the  making  of  a  singing 
tone  on  a  sound  difficult  to  sing.  The  study  of  the  vowel 
consists  first  in  learning  to  select  the  right  sound  for  the 
singing  tone,  and,  second,  how  to  hold  it  without  changing 
its  quality,  at  the  same  time  learning  to  make  the  sounds 
that  come  before  and  after,  not  only  quickly,  but  so 
distinctly  that  the  words  will  be  clearly  understood. 

Supporting  this  work  and  making  it  effective  is  the  neces- 
sity for  good  position  of  body  and  sufficient  breath.  The 
relation  of  pose  of  body,  flexibility  of  jaw  and  control  of 
breath  to  what  they  are  trying  to  do  in  tone  production  is 
easily  made  apparent  to  the  children.  If  the  work  is  done 
in  connection  with  the  song  and  if  the  relation  of  the  word 
to  the  song  is  felt,  then  the  relation  of  the  vowel  to  the  word 
can  be  carried  and  both  these  can  be  related  to  the  good 


SECOND  YEAR  WORK  63 

position  of  the  body  and  breath  control.  Thus  all  the 
factors  can  be  coupled  with  the  expressive  end  they  serve. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  the  breath  exercises  are  taken  as  in- 
dependent work  at  one  time,  the  vowel  work  in  arbitrary 
exercises  at  another  time,  the  pronunciation  of  the  words 
of  the  song  at  still  another  time,  and  general  drill  on  ex- 
pressive singing  of  the  song  at  yet  another,  we  have  what 
too  often  happens  under  the  so-called  systematic  teaching 
of  music:  all  the  essentials  necessary  for  effective  singing 
are  practiced  because  their  logical  importance  is  felt;  but 
they  are  so  disassociated  one  from  another  that  little  prac- 
tical use  is  made  of  them,  hence  that  which  unites  them  and 
makes  them  significant  is  lost. 

Good  position  of  body,  breath  control,  and  the  nature 
of  the  vowel  and  the  consonant  are  technical  elements,  of 
whose  place  in  singing  the  pupil  is  gradually  made  con- 
scious by  their  employment  to  attain  expressive  ends.  The 
first  stage  of  the  second  year  work  emphasizes  this  mastery 
of  means  through  the  ends  they  serve,  which  goes  on  prac- 
tically through  the  year  in  connection  with  the  song  singing, 
the  point  now  aimed  at  being  to  make  these  features  so 
important  and  vivid  to  the  children  that  they  can  be  car- 
ried along  and  progress  can  be  made  in  their  successful 
use  through  the  regular  practice  of  learning  songs. 

second  stage:  key  quality 

After  a  few  weeks  spent  on  the  first  stage  of  work,  it  is 
left  for  that  of  the  second  stage, — learning  the  character- 
istics of  the  tones  of  the  key.    The  tones  in  the  melody  are 


64  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

not  like  a  string  of  beads  all  of  the  same  size  and  color,  but 
their  relations  in  the  key  give  them  various  qualities  so 
that  the  scale  made  up  of  these  tones  is  really  like  a  spangle 
of  diverse  jewels.  As  the  effect  of  jewels  varies  according 
to  the  light  they  are  in,  so  the  effect  of  tones  varies  ac- 
cording to  the  successions  in  which  they  are  grouped.  It 
is  not  difficult  to  memorize  the  tones  in  scale  succession, 
but  put  these  tones  into  a  song  and  the  children  find  it  dif- 
ficult to  recognize  them. 

The  first  year's  work  has  given  the  children  a  feeling 
for  tones  so  that  they  recognize  bright  or  dark  tones,  repose- 
ful or  active  tones,  without  any  attempt  either  at  definition 
or  analysis.  They  have  felt  these  qualities  in  the  songs 
they  have  been  singing  and  an  effort  has  been  made  to 
connect  the  sound  names  with  the  feeling  of  the  tones  that 
the  song  has  developed.  This  has  been  done  by  repeat- 
ing the  same  little  melodies,  using  instead  of  words  the 
syllable  names,  after  their  character  has  been  fully  de- 
veloped and  felt  in  songs. 

The  advanced  work  aims  to  make  the  pupils  conscious 
of  the  qualities  so  that  they  will  know  definitely  what  key 
characteristics  belong  to  each  tone.  Let  us  illustrate  by 
means  of  language.  The  child  becomes  familiar  with  the 
sound  "  d  "  through  speaking  words  in  which  it  occurs.  For 
instance,  he  has  often  said  the  word  "did "  but  he  has  never 
separated  it  into  the  different  sounds  that  make  it  up.  In 
time  he  learns  the  symbol  that  represents  the  sound  "d" 
and  then  he  finds  this  symbol  in  written  words  that  he 
already  knows,  such  as  "day"  or  "good."     He  realizes 


SECOND  YEAR  WORK  65 

after  a  number  of  such  experiences  that  the  symbol  "  d  "  is 
the  mark  for  a  sound  with  which  he  has  long  been  familiar 
in  his  verbal  experience.  Hereafter  the  sound  "d"  is  a 
separate  thing  to  him  and  he  is  consequently  aware  of  it 
wherever  it  occurs.  It  no  longer  merges  in  the  whole 
word.  The  form  and  the  experience  have  united;  con- 
sequently an  idea  is  developed. 

In  music  the  child  has  already  sung  as  wholes  short 
musical  phrases  to  the  syllable  names,  and  he  has  felt 
bright  or  dark  characteristics,  or  active  or  reposeful  qual- 
ities in  the  different  phrases.     For  instance,  in  the  song 

sentence,  "I'm  so  gay"  he  felt  the  gladness  of  the  whole. 

< 
3= 


g-fe^ 


I'm        so        gay. 

When  he  broke  up  the  word  "day"  into  its  parts  he  found 
the  peculiar  effect  that  was  due  to  the  presence  of  the  sound 
"d."  Now  in  his  singing  his  attention  is  drawn  to  the  par- 
ticular sounds  which  produce  a  particular  effect.  He  finds 
that  the  peculiar  gladness  of  the  phrase  "I'm  so  gay" 
comes  from  the  sound  soh,  the  fifth  in  the  scale.  If  the 
reader  will  sing  the  passage,  ending  first  on  the  fourth  and 
afterwards  on  the  sixth  (the  two  tones  on  either  side  of  the 
fifth),  he  will  realize  that  the  fifth  tone  gives  the  quality 
which  expresses  the  thought  of  the  word.  True,  this  qual- 
ity of  the  fifth  is  due  to  what  has  preceded  it  so  that  the 
characteristics  of  tones  studied  in  this  stage  are  really 
effects  dependent  on  a  harmonic  relationship  of  which  the 
pupil  is  only  aware  in  the  single  tone;  here  lies  the  benefit 
Music — 5 


66  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

of  this  work  that,  by  making  the  pupils  sensitive  to  the  qual- 
ity of  the  individual  tones,  an  elementary  harmonic  feeling 
is  being  developed.  As  the  first  music  the  pupils  attempt 
to  read  is  of  the  most  obvious  harmonic  structure,  the  de- 
scriptions here  given  hold  good  to  their  experience.  As 
skill  in  reading  increases,  experience  with  more  complex 
harmonies  grows  and  a  subtle  feeling  for  tone  relationship 
takes  the  place  of  this  stage.  Both  the  use  of  the  syllable 
or  sound  names,  and  hand  signs  are  for  the  purpose  of 
impressing  on  the  memory  the  quality  of  the  tone  in  the 
key.  Their  influence  is  dependent  on  the  thought  they 
stimulate;  when  they  are  constantly  used  as  mnemonics 
for  the  memory  they  may  easily  come  to  take  the  place  of 
thought  and  thus  become  a  hindrance  to  musical  thinking. 
We  begin  this  work  by  singing  to  the  pupils  two  little 
sentences,  "I  want  to  stop,"  and  "I  want  to  go,"  set  to 
almost  the  same  notes  except  that  the  first  ends  with  doh 
and  the  second  with  re. 


1 


w± 


I       want      to      stop.  I     want     to      go. 

After  we  have  sung  the  second,  we  bid  the  children  sing 
the  first.  They  sing  the  words  of  the  first,  but  generally  to 
the  tune  of  the  second,  which  is,  of  course,  more  distinctly 
in  their  minds,  and  resembles  the  first  in  every  respect  but 
one.  "That  doesn't  sound  as  if  it  wanted  to  stop,"  we 
observe.  The  children  shake  their  heads;  they  feel  that 
something  is  wrong.  A  new  idea  has  been  brought  to  their 
attention;  one  tone  has  a  different  feeling  from  another 


SECOND  YEAR  WORK  67 

tone.  They  have  never  thought  of  it  before,  but  there  is  no 
escaping  from  it  now.  We  sing  "I  want  to  stop"  to  them 
again.  Now  they  have  it  and  hereafter  cannot  be  shaken. 
"I  want  to  stop"  ends  on  a  tone  that  wants  to  stop,  and 
they  have  no  doubt  about  it.  That  tone,  we  tell  them,  is 
named  doh,  and  extending  the  closed  fist,  "Here,"  we  say, 
"we  have  a  picture  of  it."  Similarly  we  tell  them  later 
that  the  name  of  the  tone  that  wants  to  go  is  re,  and  drive 
its  progressive  quality  home  by  picturing  it  with  the  palm 
spread  out  sloping  upward. 

We  now  study  the  third  of  the  scale,  repeating  the  same 
two  songs,  but  commencing  on  mi.  This  gives  us  the 
half  step  above  rather  than  below  the  initial  tone.  If  the 
tonic  is  clearly  in  mind,  the  repose  quality  of  the  third 
will  come  out,  and  at  the  same  time  its  sensitive,  plain- 
tive character.  The  open  hand  well  illustrates  this  tone 
quality.  While  the  fourth  helps  bring  out  the  quality  of 
the  third,  it  is  not  individualized,  the  whole  attention  be- 
ing centered  on  the  similarity  and  difference  between  the 
third  and  the  first — between  mi  and  doh.  This  relation- 
ship is  further  tested  by  the  teacher's  singing  the  doh  in 
different  pitches  and  asking  the  children  to  sing  the  mi.  If 
the  pupils  have  a  true  idea  of  mi,  the  reverse  step  will  be 
possible,  though  it  is  much  more  difficult,  i.  e.,  when  the 
teacher  sings  mi  in  different  pitches  the  children  can  give 
the  corresponding  doh. 

The  next  step  is  to  compare  the  third  repose  tone  with 
the  two  already  studied.  For  this  the  teacher  takes  the 
sentence  "I'm  so  gay,"  given  on  page  65. 


68 


EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 


The  three  tones  are  now  practiced  from  hand  dicta- 
tion, the  lower  fifth  being  easily  added  as  the  octave  of  the 
upper.  It  will  be  best  to  practice  not  only  reaching  the 
fifth  from  the  tonic  and  the  third,  but  also  the  reverse — 
giving  the  fifth  and  having  the  pupils  sing  the  other  two 
tones.  If  the  fifth  has  been  reaKy  learned,  when  it  is  sung 
on  different  pitches  by  the  teacher  it  will  not  be  difficult 
to  reach  the  other  tones.  Practice  and  great  care  will  be 
needed  not  to  have  the  acquiring  of  these  tones  result  in 
merely  learning  a  mechanical  formula,  but  to  have  it  a 
response  to  genuine  musical  thinking. 

The  next  step  is  to  study  the  tone  just  below  doh,  using 
the  following  sentence : 


This 


the 


teas 


ing 


tone. 


Emphasis  of  the  word  "teasing"  will  bring  out  the  qual- 
ity of  the  seventh — its  incisiveness  and  the  demand  for 
resolution  upwards.  Using  the  Tonic  Soh-fa  name,  we 
call  it  ti,  and  the  index  finger  pointing  up  pictures  it  to 
the  eye.  This  is  now  practiced  with  the  others  in  a  similar 
way. 

The  next  tone  is  studied, — the  fourth,  la.  For  this  the 
phrase  "so  far  away"  is  added  to  the  already  familiar  "I 
want  to  go." 

rit. 


vM 


I        want       to 


go 


so        far 


way. 


SECOND  YEAR  WORK 


69 


The  dark,  unsatisfied  quality  of  the  tone  is 
brought  out  by  the  song.  Its  tendency  to 
drop  down  to  mi  is  illustrated  by  the  index 
finger's  pointing  down,  the  opposite  of  li. 

Finally,  the  last  tone  la,  the  sixth,  is  taken 
below  the  tonic  in  the  little  song,  "  I'm  so 
sad." 


I'm  so  sad. 
The  rather  dark  quality  is  brought  out  by 
the  song.  The  downward  tendency  of  the 
tone  la  is  indicated  by  the  whole  hand  point- 
ing down,  the  opposite  of  re.  This  posi- 
tion shows  its  downward  tendency  from  the 
tonic,  while  its  opposite  upward  progression 
towards  doh  is  indicated  by  the  wrist's  being 
raised  from  the  soh  position. 

The  true  test  for  learning  the  key  quali- 
ties of  these  tones  is  not  the  ability  to  reach 
them  from  the  tonic,  but  the  ability  to  form 
the  tonic  when  the  tone  is  given  in  different 
pitches,  thus  resulting  in  the  ability  to  think 
new  keys. 

Last  year's  songs  and  song  sentences  are 
sung  and  the  pupils  feel  that  their  past  ex- 

The  hand  signs  are  those  used  by  the  Tonic  Soh -fa 
teachers.  The  cuts  are  taken  from  Pocket  Modulator, 
published  by  Biglow  and  Main. 


LA 


SOH 


Ml 


DOH 


?o  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

perience  in  singing  the  sound  names  is  being  supported  by 
their  new  observations.  The  advantage  of  the  past  experi- 
ence is  that  it  keeps  a  pupil  from  making  a  too  narrow  and 
arbitrary  deduction  with  reference  to  tone  character,  which 
is  bound  to  be  contradicted  by  later  experience.  For 
context,  harmony,  and  rhythmic  position  are  constantly 
changing  the  effects  of  tones  even  in  simple  melodies,  thus 
making  it  especially  necessary  that  experience  should  pre- 
cede definition. 

So  we  go  through  the  seven  notes  of  the  scale,  bringing 
vividly  into  the  child's  consciousness  the  key  quality  of 
each  tone  through  song  sentences  that  emphasize  its  pe- 
culiar characteristics  and  through  hand  signs  that  suggest 
it  physically.  Thus  the  beginnings  of  work  made  in  the 
previous  year,  observation,  acting,  and  picturing,  are  con- 
tinued. In  this  work  with  tone  definition  the  shape  of  the 
hand — closed  or  open,  pointed  up  or  down — represents  to 
the  eye  distinctive  qualities  of  the  tone  and  takes  the  place 
of  the  blackboard  picture,  for  obviously  such  qualities 
could  not  be  pictured.  All  that  the  blackboard  can  do  is 
to  suggest  distance  and  direction. 

Taught  in  this  way  the  tones  interest  the  children  and 
become  so  real  to  them  that  music  can  be  easily  dictated  by 
use  of  the  hand  signs.  The  hand  sign  suggests  the  quality 
of  the  tone,  the  raising  or  lowering  of  the  hand  when  the 
sign  is  made  suggests  the  direction  and  duration  of  the 
interval.  Thus  we  have,  combined  in  one  act,  three 
suggestions  of  tone  relationships.  The  children  will  sing 
readily  new  tunes  thus  dictated :  the  ease  with  which  they 


SECOND  YEAR  WORK  71 

follow  this  dictation  makes  it  possible,  by  using  both  hands, 
to  dictate  two-part  exercises  in  the  second  grade,  long 
before  they  can  be  sung  from  notation,  showing  that  the 
hand  signs  are  the  simplest  and  most  accurate  way  of 
suggesting  tones,  with  reference  both  to  pitch  and  rhythm. 

In  arithmetic,  after  the  child  has  acquired  a  certain 
amount  of  knowledge  about  numbers  we  organize  his 
knowledge  for  him  in  the  shape  of  the  multiplication  table. 
Similarly  we  organize  the  tone  knowledge  that  the  child  has 
now  acquired  by  grouping  the  tones,  in  the  scale,  for  in- 
stance, showing  their  relative  places  there.  The  child's  use 
of  the  scale  is  not  dissimilar  to  his  use  of  the  multiplication 
table.  The  latter  is  useful  to  him  in  most  arithmetical 
operations.  So  the  knowledge  of  the  scale,  involving  ac- 
quaintance with  the  sequence  of  the  tones  in  a  key,  is  of 
use  constantly  in  music.  Moreover,  the  scale  is  a  mode  of 
movement  that  occurs  often  in  music,  like  an  idiom  in 
language.  Beethoven's  Hymn  to  Joy  in  the  Ninth  Sym- 
phony moves  almost  entirely  in  the  stepwise  movement 
of  the  scale.  The  fact  that  the  scale  is  such  an  idiom  is  so 
obvious  that  is  needs  no  illustration.  The  child  in  his  ex- 
perience discovers  that  the  song  Up  Goes  My  Pretty  Kile 
(page  50),  is  practically  the  scale  that  he  has  been  learn- 
ing, and  that  in  many  of  the  songs  he  has  been  singing 
parts  of  the  scale. 

THIRD   STAGE:    TONE    DURATION 

After  attention  has  been  centered  for  some  six  weeks  on 
the  tones  of  the  key,  ending  with  scale  practice,  observa- 


72  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

tion  is  directed  to  the  third  stage,  or  rhythm,  which  in- 
cludes both  pulse  and  duration.  The  object  here,  as  we 
have  said,  is  to  lead  to  the  discovery  that  the  tones  have 
various  lengths  which  are  capable  of  being  measured.  Be- 
fore the  pupils  are  through  with  this  they  also  find  that  the 
measurement  can  be  represented. 

We  open  the  new  work  some  day  by  making  the  children 
sing  a  song  and  then  asking  whether  all  the  tones  are  of 
the  same  length.    They  are  not  quite  sure,  perhaps. 

"  How  do  we  notice  the  long  and  short  tones  ?  " 

"Clap  them  out." 

"All  right,"  and  the  children  proceed  to  clap  out  the 
song. 

"Now,  are  the  tones  of  the  same  length?  " 

"No,  some  go  fast  and  some  go  slow." 

Following  such  a  course  of  questions  and  answers,  we 
at  last  elicit  from  the  children  the  idea  that  if  we  are  to 
discover  how  long  the  tones  are,  we  require  a  means  by 
which  to  measure  them,  just  as  we  need  a  yardstick  to  find 
the  length  of  a  piece  of  cloth. 

"Is  there  anything  regular  in  music?"  we  ask. 

"Yes,"  they  answer,  "there  was  something  that  we 
walked  to  and  acted  and  pictured  by  circles." 

Here  we  have  a  measuring  stick  at  hand,  namely,  the 
regular  pulsation.  We  apply  the  measure.  While  the 
class  sings  the  song,  clapping  the  tones,  the  teacher  swings 
a  circle  for  the  pulse.  This  is  a  way  for  measuring  tones. 
It  is  seen  that  some  tones  last  as  long  as  the  circle,  some 
twice  as  long,  some  only  half  as  long.    The  children  in  the 


SECOND  YEAR  WORK  73 

first  year  have  already  pictured  both  pulse  and  duration 
separately  on  the  blackboard.  Now  they  combine  the  two. 
One  child,  for  example,  draws  the  pictures  of  the  pulse  by 
means  of  circles,  dividing  the  space  above  them  by  vertical 
lines,  one  being  placed  before  each  large  circle,  thus  mark- 
ing the  strong  pulses.  Then  while  the  class  sings  the  song 
again,  another  child  draws  horizontal  lines  above  the 
circles  and  between  the  vertical  lines.  These  show  the 
duration  of  the  tones  with  reference  to  the  circles  that 
mark  the  pulses. 

Hot  cross  buns      Hot  cross        buns     One  a  penny  two  a  penny  Hot  cross       bunt 

J   J     J     J  J     J     AW  /.W  J  J     J 


They  have  now  a  united  representation  of  pulse  and 
duration. 

We  now  do  for  duration  what  we  did  for  pitch  in  giving 
the  names  of  the  scale.  We  tell  the  children  that  a  tone 
which  lasts  a  circle  may  be  represented  by  a  quarter  note, 
one  lasting  two  circles  by  a  half  note,  one  lasting  half  a 
circle  by  an  eighth  note,  at  the  same  time  marking  the 
notation  on  the  board. 

As  we  developed  the  child's  skill  in  the  recognition  of 
tone  qualities  by  singing  very  short  and  striking  passages, 
so  we  give  him  practice  by  changing  the  tone  durations, 
introducing  those  with  which  he  is  already  familiar,  i.  e., 
quarters,  halves,  and  eighths.    He  is  extremely  interested, 


74  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

not  only  in  telling  the  teacher  what  he  hears  but  in  writing 
it  down;  and  in  all  new  songs  learned  afterward  his  skill 
is  put  to  practical  use  in  those  portions  that  are  within  his 
grasp. 

FOURTH  STAGE.*  SIMPLIFIED  PITCH   NOTATION 

We  now  take  up  the  fourth  stage  of  the  work,  the  ob- 
servation of  pitch,  and  with  the  purpose  of  discovering  some 
more  accurate  way  for  its  notation  than  the  rather  rough 
and  ready  picturing  so  far  employed,  we  begin  with  a  prim- 
itive picturing  of  songs.  The  children  have  already  made 
pitch  pictures  of  songs  in  a  crude  way  on  the  blackboard  by 
placing  dashes  up  and  down  to  show  pitch  changes  in  the 
melody.  They  see  that  the  dashes  give  a  visible  outline  of 
the  melodic  movement,  and  a  child  enjoys  making  such  a 
picture  of  some  song  of  which  he  is  thinking  and  then  hav- 
ing his  classmates  guess  what  the  tune  is. 

Now  a  song  is  taken  in  which  the  same  tone  recurs  of- 
ten, and  while  the  children  recognize  the  familiar  air  and 
sing  it  correctly  the  teacher  draws  attention  to  the  fact 
that  although  a  certain  dash  represents  the  pitch  of  a  cer- 
tain tone  throughout,  in  this  free  way  of  suggesting  the 
pitch  it  is  impossible  to  put  the  tone  exactly  on  the  level 
that  the  pitch  idea  requires.  Difference  of  ability  among 
pupils  in  this  respect  is  very  marked.  The  more  precise 
and  exact  ones  come  quite  near  what  is  intended,  but 
the  majority  require  considerable  guessing.  The  teacher 
shows  how  valuable  it  would  be  if  we  could  tell  exactly 
where  the  same  note  would  come  each  time*    She  takes 


SECOND  YEAR  WORK  75 

great  pains  to  have  the  pupils  feel  the  necessity  for  what 
she  wishes  to  teach  them. 

She  then  asks  for  suggestions  as  to  the  means  that  might 
be  employed  to  help  get  the  same  note  on  the  same  level 
throughout  the  song.  One  of  the  first  suggestions  is  to 
draw  a  line  on  which  the  note  can  be  placed.  The  teacher 
then  sings  a  song  limited  to  two  tones,  such  as  Gently 
Rocks  My  Light  Canoe.    (See  page  49.) 

The  usual  way  %        \     »        \     %        \     » 

The  new  suggestion     ^ — — V - — V - — \ 

A  line  will  define  the  lower  tone,  and  the  children  quickly 
see  that  the  space  above  the  line  serves  to  show  when  to 
sing  the  other  tone. 

The  next  step  is  to  have  the  children  outline  a  song 
which  includes  three  tones,  one  above  and  one  below  the 
center  tone,  such  as  "  I  want  to  go."     (See  page  66.) 


The  children  discover  that  a  single  line  defines  three 
tones;  the  one  on  the  line,  the  one  above  and  the  one  be- 
low it. 

Thus  the  function  of  lines  and  spaces  is  thoroughly 
learned  in  its  simplest  form,  and  by  using  melodies  which 
call  for  more  and  more  pitches,  the  need  of  new  lines  and 
spaces  is  brought  to  the  children,  until  at  last  they  have 


76  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

built  up  a  primitive  staff  of  five  lines  and  six  spaces.  In 
writing  on  this  staff  we  can  use  the  note  heads,  which  the 
children  already  understand,  while  for  the  circles  we  sub- 
stitute vertical  straight  lines  which  show  the  accent  of  the 
rhythm  represented  hitherto  by  the  big  circles. 

But  as  the  circles  are  to  be  omitted  and  the  vertical  line 
represents  only  the  accent,  there  is  nothing  to  tell  how 
many  pulses  there  are  between  the  lines.  Again,  the  teacher 
develops  the  necessity  for  some  mark  to  show  the  number 
of  pulses.  The  children  see  that  some  songs  have  two,  some 
four,  and  others,  three  pulses. 

So  far  we  feel  the  necessity  for  marking  only  the  number 
of  pulses.  The  necessity  for  the  lower  fraction  in  the 
meter  signature  must  also  be  equally  well  prepared  for 
by  comparing  melodies  in  the  compound  time  of  six* 
eight  with  simple  time.  For  the  children  will  readily 
realize  that  the  large  circles  they  have  been  making  in  com- 
pound meter  can  be  broken  up  in  groups  of  three  circles 
each.  Thus  the  two  circles  representing  the  larger  groups 
may  be  represented  by  six  small  ones.  The  Mother  Goose 
rhymes  will  furnish  many  excellent  illustrations  for  this. 
When  the  necessity  for  differentiating  between  the  two- 
part  grouping  of  simple  meter  and  the  two-part  grouping 
of  compound  meter  is  thoroughly  realized,  the  necessity 
for  a  second  figure  to  state  the  nature  of  the  pulse,  placed 
underneath  the  one  that  gave  the  number  in  the  measure, 
will  be  felt  and  clearly  understood.* 

*  For  further  illustration  of  rhythm  notation,  see  "  Plan  of  Instruction 
by  Topics,"  Chapter  XVIII,  page  191. 


SECOND  YEAR  WORK  77 

Showing  compound  pulse  as  strongly  felt 


Showing  simple  basis  of  compound 

Thus  all  the  characters  for  writing  simple  music  have 
been  developed  out  of  a  necessity  in  the  musical  experience 
of  the  pupils. 

In  connection  with  the  staff  we  have  now  given,  the 
children  sing  passages  that  run  on  the  lines  of  the  three 
fundamental  chords,  the  tonic,  the  dominant,  and  the  sub- 
dominant,  although  we  do  not  give  the  names.  Variety 
and  interest  are  lent  to  these  exercises  by  varying  the 
rhythm  and  manner  of  singing  the  chords,  and  through 
this  practice  the  children  come  to  feel  the  difference  in 
musical  meaning  between  the  group  that  runs  doh,  mi,  soh 
and  the  group  that  runs  ti,  re,  soh  or  doh,  ja,  la.  We  place 
the  chord  passages  on  a  group  of  five  lines  and  the  children 
can  see  that  when  doh  is  on  the  line,  mi  and  soh  are  on  the 
two  lines  above  it  and  re,  ja,  and  la  are  on  the  spaces;  while 
if  doh  is  on  the  space,  the  reverse  is  the  case.  The  acquire- 
ment of  this  knowledge  sounds  like  a  mere  mechanical 
bit  of  information.  In  reality  it  is  a  significant  step,  for  it 
means  the   beginning  of  rapid   music   reading  by  tone 


78  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

grouping  instead  of  by  separate  notes.  The  moment  the 
child  thinks  of  a  particular  form  of  musical  expression, 
as  a  familiar  group,  when  he  sees  a  succession  of  three 
notes  on  three  successive  spaces,  of  which  the  first  is  doh, 
he  has  begun  to  read  music  by  the  words  instead  of  by 
the  letters;  he  is  on  the  way  to  understand  what  he 
reads. 

Another  bit  of  apparently  technical  work  which  can 
come  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  is  to  have  the  children 
read  scale  passages,  commencing  on  some  other  tone  than 
the  tonic  and  taking  various  pitches,  calling  them  first  mi 
and  then  soh,  and  singing  them  to  the  doh  above  or  the  doh 
below.  Drill  of  this  kind  develops  the  child's  command 
over  tone  relationships,  for  if  he  starts  to  sing  the  scale  up 
from  a  tone  thought  of  as  mi,  he  has  to  sing  the  second  tone 
only  a  half  step  above  the  first,  a  mode  of  progression 
wholly  different  from  that  when  the  first  tone  thought  of  is 
doh.    The  ear  and  the  mind  are  alike  trained. 

fifth  stage:  application  of  knowledge 

Under  four  stages  we  have  described  the  formal  work  of 
the  second  year.  The  last  stage  will  be  taken  up  with  the 
unifying  of  this  knowledge  through  its  practical  applica- 
tion. This  is  carried  out  by  means  of  two  distinct  lines  of 
work. 

One  of  these  is  by  the  teacher  singing  a  short  motif 
consisting  at  first  of  only  three  or  four  tones  taken  from 
actual  song  material,  the  children  being  asked  to  tell  how 
it  should  be  written.     The  process  is  then  reversed,  the 


SECOND  YEAR  WORK  79 

teacher  writing  a  motif  and  the  children  singing  it.  From 
the  very  first  attempts  at  sight  singing,  we  must  insist 
that  the  children  conceive  the  idea  of  the  movement 
suggested  by  the  three  or  four  notes  as  a  whole,  not  as  a 
series  of  individual  notes. 

To  cultivate  the  children's  skill  in  reading  music,  va- 
rious devices  suggest  themselves.  They  may  be  told  to 
look  at  a  motif,  then  to  turn  the  head,  or  shut  the  eyes  and 
tell  what  they  saw  and  sing  it ;  or,  the  little  motif  may  be 
written  on  the  blackboard  and  rubbed  out,  the  children 
then  being  asked  to  sing  it  or  to  show  its  pitch  and  rhythm 
by  action. 

Two  points  are  insisted  on: — first,  concentration  of 
attention  for  observing  what  is  written;  and  second,  weld- 
ing what  is  observed  into  a  musical  movement.  We  do  not 
use  motifs  which  consist  wholly  of  tones  of  the  same  length 
and  which  lack  accent,  for,  even  though  we  limit  the 
motifs  to  a  few  notes,  we  must  present  all  the  factors, — 
such  as  pitch,  change  and  variety  in  tone  length, — that 
are  always  present  in  music,  and  we  must  insist  on  a 
musical  rendering,  not  a  mechanical  spelling.  When  this 
is  done  musically  the  necessity  for  the  application  of  ideas 
of  interpretation  will  be  felt  by  the  children.  Thus,  in 
this  motif  work,  we  are  combining  interpretative  ideas 
with  pitch  and  rhythm  ideas  through  their  notation,  prac- 
tically applying  all  that  has  been  gone  over. 

But  this  is  only  the  first  of  the  two  ways  in  which  this 
knowledge  is  to  be  applied.  The  second  makes  vividly 
clear  to  the  child  the  necessity  for  the  knowledge  of  the 


80  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

structure  of  music.  This  new  work  is  in  the  form  of  song 
making. 

In  connection  with  some  appropriate  event,  such  as  the 
first  appearance  of  the  birds  or  flowers  or  the  coming  of 
the  pussy  willows,  or  the  reading  of  some  unusually  in- 
teresting story,  the  teacher  will  begin  by  asking  the  chil- 
dren if  they  would  not  like  to  make  up  a  song  about  it. 
Suppose  the  arrival  of  the  pussy  willows  has  supplied  the 
impulse.  Left  to  themselves,  the  majority  of  the  children 
would  be  at  a  loss  for  ideas  about  the  pussy  willow  that 
would  be  appropriate  for  a  song.  For  the  subject  of  a 
good  song  we  need  either  some  movement  idea  which 
lends  itself  to  verbal  or  musical  description,  or  some 
emotional  idea  which  will  serve  to  color  words  and  music. 
The  teacher's  work  is  to  develop  a  situation  dramatic 
through  either  motion  or  feeling  and  then  let  the  children 
put  it  into  words.  In  preparing  the  way  for  the  pussy 
willow  song,  the  teacher  will  ask  the  class  questions  that 
suggest  the  feeling  of  the  brown  and  gray  fuzzy  things 
peeping  out  into  the  cold.  Would  they  not  be  timid, 
venturing  out  thus  long  before  warm  weather  came? 

When  the  story  or  emotional  idea  of  the  song  has  been 
established,  we  ask  the  class  for  suggestions  for  the  first 
line  of  poetry.  We  write  five  or  six  of  the  best  on  the 
board,  the  class  discuss  them,  and  observe  the  good  and 
bad  points,  and  vote  for  the  one  to  be  adopted.  So  with 
each  succeeding  line.  Sometimes  the  lines  come  rapidly 
and  are  quickly  accepted;  sometimes  there  is  much  dis- 
cussion and  modification  of  phrases. 


SECOND  YEAR  WORK  8 1 

When  the  couplet  or  quatrain  is  finished,  we  ask  for  the 
opening  phrase  of  the  melody.  A  number  of  children  sing 
their  suggestions,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  class  as  to  time 
and  duration,  we  put  the  phrases  on  the  board.  This 
process  forces  the  singer  to  have  his  phrase  clearly  in  mind, 
in  order  to  sing  it  over  and  over  in  the  same  way.  A  good 
many  phrases  will  be  sung  which  are  obvious  imitations 
or  variations  of  others.    We  throw  these  out  of  court. 

When  a  number  are  on  the  board — three  or  four  are 
usually  enough — the  class  discusses  which  is  the  most 
suitable.  The  argument  between  the  partisans  of  the 
different  versions  is  often  spirited,  and  the  keenness  with 
which  the  children  give  reasons  why  one  is  better  than 
another  would  surprise  the  person  who  has  never  attempted 
this  work.  The  constant  insistence  in  all  the  songs  the 
children  have  had  that  the  music  interpret  the  words,  has 
given  them  the  fundamental  ideas  of  the  musical  language 
needed.  They  know  very  well  that  the  rhythm  of  a  march- 
ing song  is  different  from  that  of  a  cradle  song,  and,  though 
they  might  not  be  able  to  put  it  into  words,  they  have 
deduced  the  fact  that  plaintive  effects,  for  instance,  have 
mi,  }a,  and  la  prominent  and  that  vigorous  effects  make 
much  use  of  doh  and  soh. 

In  writing  the  songs  that  they  themselves  have  com- 
posed, their  previous  work  in  breaking  up  the  song  into 
its  elements  becomes  valuable  to  them.  If  they  had  never 
clapped  to  a  song,  though  they  might  have  made  up  mu- 
sical phrases,  they  would  have  had  no  idea  of  the  particular 

element  of  time  in  it.    By  writing  songs  themselves,  they 
Music — 6 


82  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

learn  to  use  casual  discoveries  concerning  the  elements  of 
music  made  in  the  course  of  clapping,  circling,  and  pictur- 
ing, and  they  likewise  perceive  that  the  particular  way  the 
elements  are  put  together  gives  the  song  its  emotional  char- 
acter. The  exercise  connects  the  expressive  song  work  with 
the  structural  work. 

This  stage  also  develops  the  musical  judgment  in  the 
keenest  form  in  which  it  can  be  exercised.  For  after  chil- 
dren have  made  up  a  song  and  have  discussed  the  reasons 
for  using  certain  tones  and  rhythms,  they  are  quick  to 
apply  the  same  judgment  to  the  rote  songs  they  have 
learned.  Hereafter  their  interest  in  a  new  song  depends 
not  only  on  the  sensuous  feeling  for  melody  and  rhythm, 
but  on  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  way  effects  are 
produced.  This  addition  heightens  enjoyment  and  makes 
it  possible  for  them  to  sing  songs  demanding  higher  ar- 
tistic perception. 

There  are,  however,  two  serious  drawbacks  to  this 
work.  First,  it  takes  considerable  time.  Second,  it  re- 
quires a  reasonable  amount  of  either  musicianship  or 
poetic  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  one  who  conducts  the 
exercise.  Unfortunately,  the  necessity  for  making  the  work 
conform  to  a  schedule  in  our  public  schools  leaves  little 
play  for  creativeness  on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  Instead  of 
being  a  suggestive  inspiration  to  her  pupils,  she  becomes 
an  automatic  guide  to  direct  them  to  certain  formal  acts. 
To  take  up  this  song-making  work  as  nothing  but  a  mu- 
sical exercise,  approaching  it  from  the  technical  rather 
than  the  poetic  side,  would  be  to  rob  it  of  all  its  value. 


SECOND  YEAR  WORK  83 

Rather  than  that,  it  would  be  better  to  have  the  children 
do  the  regular  singing  work. 

At  the  end  of  the  second  year,  the  child  has  individ- 
ualized the  tones  of  the  scale;  with  the  aid  of  song  senten- 
ces and  hand  signs,  he  has  learned  the  simpler  notes  and 
their  metric  values,  has  constructed  the  primitive  staff, 
and  has  learned  to  read  short  passages  or  motifs  on  that 
staff,  as  a  single  whole.  In  interpretation,  his  tone  quality 
and  feeling  for  musical  expression  have  been  directly  de- 
veloped by  his  daily  rote  song  work.  An  incentive  for 
more  intelligent  observation  has  been  supplied,  while  at 
the  same  time  the  growth  of  musical  judgment  has  been 
powerfully  stimulated  by  song  making. 


CHAPTER  Vin 

INTRODUCTORY    TO    THIRD     YEAR    WORK: 
TWO  ASPECTS  OF  STAFF  REPRESENTATION 

One  essential  fact  in  regard  to  the  staff  is  commonly 
forgotten,  or  at  least  ignored,  in  teaching  it  to  children,  i.  e., 
that  the  staff  represents  tones  as  fixed  instead  of  as  strictly 
relative.  When  the  G  clef  appears  upon  it,  the  space  be- 
tween the  second  and  third  lines  represents  the  pitch  A, 
the  international  standard  for  which  is  435  vibrations  a 
second.  It  always  represents  this  one  pitch,  whatever  the 
key. 

The  tendency  of  the  instrumentalist  is,  as  soon  as  he 
sees  the  notation,  to  think  what  he  shall  do  to  produce  the 
sounds  called  for.  That  is,  unless  he  be  very  musical,  the 
concepts  he  forms  from  the  notation  are  those  necessary  to 
produce  the  tone,  and  since  this  production  through  his 
instrument  depends  upon  rapidly  relating  the  notation 
with  what  he  has  to  do  in  order  to  gain  the  tones  called 
for,  the  notation  thought  tends  to  become  one  of  fixed 
rather  than  of  relative  pitch. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  vocalist  who  does  not  play  an 
instrument  is  indifferent  to  the  actual  pitch,  and  does  not 
care  if  it  be  a  little  higher  or  a  little  lower  than  that  called 
for  by  the  staff.     His  whole  concern  is  the  interrelation- 

84 


INTRODUCTORY  TO  THIRD  YEAR  WORK        85 

ship  of  the  tones  presented.  After  he  has  sung  Yankee 
Doodle  in  the  key  of  F,  he  would  add  nothing  to  the 
difficulty  of  his  performance  by  singing  it  a  minor  second 
higher,  although  it  would  then  be  in  the  key  of  six  sharps 
instead  of  one  flat.  But  the  physical  operation  of  the  in- 
strumentalist in  producing  Yankee  Doodle  in  six  sharps 
is  totally  different  from  that  required  for  it  in  one  flat.  The 
staff  presents  these  differences,  and  it  is  therefore  true  to 
the  conception  of  the  instrumentalist,  although  confusing 
to  that  of  the  vocalist. 

The  vocalist  needs  a  knowledge  of  the  staff  so  thor- 
ough that  he  can  rapidly  interpret  fixed  pitch  notation  into 
the  relative  pitch  by  means  of  which  he  thinks  tone 
relationships.  This  process  is  often  simplified  in  the  early 
stages  of  music  teaching  by  going  around  it  instead  of  con- 
quering it;  by  telling  the  children,  for  instance,  that  be- 
cause doh  is  on  the  same  space  for  one  flat  and  six  sharps, 
it  is  therefore  the  same  doh  or  tonic. 

So  long  as  the  piece  stays  in  the  same  key,  the  fixed 
pitch  character  of  the  staff  will  not  bother  the  child  by 
forcing  itself  upon  him.  But  if  his  piece  passes  from  the 
key  of  F  to  its  nearest  related  key,  that  of  C,  he  will  find 
a  cancel  mark  on  the  third  line.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
piece  is  in  F  sharp  and  makes  exactly  the  same  modulation, 
he  will  find  a  sharp  on  the  third  line — an  apparently 
opposite  mark,  rather  difficult  to  explain  to  a  person  un- 
familiar with  the  fixed  pitch  character  of  the  staff.  Such 
accidentals  are  very  frequent  in  modern  music;  sometimes 
they  entirely  contradict  the  key  signature. 


86  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

The  vocalist  who,  in  the  manner  of  children,  thinks  of 
the  staff  as  representing  merely  relative  pitches,  is  obliged 
either  to  stop  while  he  figures  out  the  real  key  of  the  pas- 
sage before  he  can  sing  it;  or,  depending  on  his  musical 
instinct  and  the  general  up  and  down  movement  of  the 
notes,  to  guess  what  the  passage  is.  If,  however,  the  vo- 
calist has  a  knowledge  of  the  staff  like  that  of  the  in- 
strumentalist, that  is,  of  its  fixed  pitch  character,  although 
he  may  not  be  able  to  state  in  what  key  the  passage  is,  he 
recognizes  the  exact  intervals  presented;  hence  he  knows 
the  relationship  between  the  tones,  and  this  helps  him  to 
sing  the  passage  with  certainty. 

His  advantage  over  the  singer  who  thinks  of  the  staff 
as  representing  only  relative  pitches  is  apparent.  For  in- 
stance, a  musical  passage  might  lie  along  the  track  of  a 
chord  consisting  of  a  major  third,  a  minor  third,  and  a 
perfect  fourth.  This  chord  might  be  number  one,  the 
tonic,  in  one  key;  number  five,  the  dominant,  in  another 
key;  or  number  four,  the  subdominant,  in  still  another 
key.  -If  the  vocalist  has  grasped  the  relationship  of  the 
four  tones  that  represent  it,  he  can  form  a  clear  conception 
of  the  group,  though  the  context  may  be  such  that  he  is 
unable  to  tell  instantly  in  which  of  the  three  keys  the  pas- 
sage lies.  But  if  he  were  entirely  dependent  on  key  feeling 
as  expressed  through  the  doh,  re,  mi  names,  he  would  find 
that  the  necessity  for  deciding  the  exact  relationship  of  the 
chord  would  prevent  him  from  conceiving  it  rapidly  enough 
to  sing  it  in  time.  But  if  his  knowledge  of  the  staff,  like 
that  of  the  instrumentalist,  presented  to  him  definitely  the 


INTRODUCTORY  TO  THIRD  YEAR  WORK        87 

distance  between  intervals,  he  could  with  this  knowledge 
think  of  how  they  would  sound,  and  for  the  moment  ignore 
the  more  definite  analysis  the  key  thinking  would  require. 
Instead  of  depending  on  the  doh,  re,  mi  names,  in  order  to 
know  that  the  distance  from  one  line  to  the  next  is  like 
that  from  mi  to  soh,  la  to  doh,  or  ti  to  re,  through  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  staff  he  would  recognize  it  as  a  minor  third, 
and  with  the  aid  of  the  tone  feeling  produced  by  the  con- 
text he  would  be  more  likely  to  sing  the  passage  correctly 
than  if  he  had  to  wait  until  he  settled  what  the  sound 
names  should  be  with  reference  to  the  key  of  the  passage. 

Besides  this  ability  to  recognize  the  interval  from  the 
staff  representation  without  waiting  to  figure  it  out  ac- 
cording to  the  key,  fixed  pitch  notation  involves  a  second 
element  which  can  be  made  of  great  help  to  the  singer, 
i.  e.,  the  actual  pitches  of  the  tones  themselves.  Without 
training,  very  few  people  can  remember  fixed  pitches  ex- 
actly; but  the  ability  exists  in  every  one  in  a  more  or  less 
rudimentary  state,  and  when  developed  it  greatly  facili- 
tates music  reading.  If,  for  instance,  we  ask  the  pupils 
to  sound  the  pitch  C  before  we  give  it  to  them,  it  will  not 
take  long  for  them  to  learn  to  strike  it  with  a  fair  degree 
of  certainty.  By  constantly  testing  the  children  in  this  way, 
and  by  always  starting  pieces  on  their  actual  pitches,  and 
using  the  letter  names  in  giving  the  tone,  we  can  establish 
a  memory  for  the  pitches.  In  reading,  pitch  memory  is 
of  little  help  without  the  key  feeling,  but  is  of  great  assist- 
ance when  combined  with  it. 

The  work  of  the  third  grade  should  do  for  the  students 


88  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

with  reference  to  the  staff,  what  the  formal  learning  of  the 
multiplication  table  does  with  reference  to  arithmetic.  If 
instead  of  thoroughly  learning  the  whole  table  at  first,  the 
pupil  were  to  learn  only  parts  of  it  at  intervals  and  never 
gain  a  knowledge  of  it  as  a  whole,  he  would  very  likely  go 
through  life  without  being  able  to  use  it  readily.  This  is 
what  happens  ordinarily  as  regards  the  staff.  For  eight 
years  the  pupils  have  been  told  various  things  about  the 
staff,  but  in  such  driblets  that  they  have  been  practically 
vaccinated  against  a  comprehension  of  it  as  a  whole.  The 
result  is  that,  while  capable  of  solving  difficult  problems  in 
other  subjects,  they  seem  unable,  even  with  serious  effort, 
to  pass  a  simple  examination  in  the  notation  of  music. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THIRD  YEAR— COMPLETION  OF  THE  PROCESS 
FROM  SONG  TO  NOTATION 

The  work  of  the  third  year  completes  the  first  phase  of 
music  teaching.  In  this  the  aim  is  to  have  the  pupils  con- 
nect what  they  do  with  the  particular  effect  desired,  to 
make  the  tone  sweeter  and  more  expressive,  so  that  they 
gradually  form  the  constitutive  ideas  of  interpretation. 
Similarly,  they  learn  to  connect  by  means  of  observation, 
by  acting  rnd  picturing  what  they  feel  as  the  movement  of 
music,  with  the  particular  rhythm  and  pitch  forms  that 
produce  this  movement:  thus  they  develop  constitutive 
ideas  of  structure. 

Besides  developing  these  two  classes  of  ideas  they  have 
learned  much  of  how  to  note  the  structural  ideas  on  paper. 
Their  need  now  is  to  complete  the  notation  of  music  and 
prepare  for  the  new  phase  of  the  work  which,  instead  of 
passing  from  the  song  to  its  notation,  reverses  the  process 
and  passes  from  the  notation  to  the  song. 

first  stage:  review  work 

The  first  few  weeks  of  the  school  year  will  logically  be 
spent  in  reviewing  the  old  songs  for  tone  work  similar  to 

89 


■go  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

that  suggested  in  the  first  stage  of  the  second  year;  the  pu- 
pils will  also  learn  new  rote  songs,  and  practice  singing 
short  motifs  from  the  staff.  This  plan  recalls  the  techni- 
cal knowledge  gained  in  the  previous  year  and  introduces 
new  pupils  to  the  methods  of  work. 

second  stage:  completion  of  staff  notation 

It  may  seem,  perhaps,  that  already  the  essentials  for 
staff  notation  have  been  given;  and  as  a  matter  of  fact,  as 
much  as  is  usually  attempted  has  been  done.  But  there 
still  lacks  one  essential  element  to  make  this  notation  com- 
plete, i.  e.,  the  knowledge  that  the  pitches  represented  by 
the  staff  are  not  relative  but  fixed ;  up  to  this  point  the  re- 
lationship idea  has  been  suggested  by  means  of  the  sound 
names,  and  the  staff  has  indicated  only  the  order  and 
number  of  steps;  not  their  actual  distances  as  whole  or 
half  steps. 

first  step:  bases  for  comparison 

The  first  need  is  for  the  children  to  attain  the  power 
to  sing  major  and  minor  seconds  up  and  down  from  any 
given  tone.  When  they  gain  this  ability  it  will  enable  them 
to  compare  the  relative  series  represented  by  the  key  with 
the  fixed  pitch  series  of  the  staff,  with  the  result  that  they 
will  then  understand  the  nature  of  the  staff  and  apprehend 
the  necessity  for  sharps  and  flats. 

To  begin  this  work,  a  song  is  selected  that  introduces 
the  minor  second  out  of  its  regular  key  position,  Nevin's 
Wind  Song,  for  example;  or  a  song  sentence  such  as  the 


THIRD  YEAR  gt 

following  made  up  by  one  of  the  pupils,  "  Here  I  come 
creeping." 

i 


3E£ 


t 


£bt 


t 


Here  I  come  creeping,creeping,creep-ing  like    a  mouse. 

Although  the  children  have  been  singing  minor  seconds, 
they  have  particularly  observed  them  only  in  their  key 
position,  as  ti,  doh  or  mi,  ja  and  the  peculiar  nature  of  the 
interval  has  been  necessarily  associated  with  these  two 
places.  When  they  sing  these  illustrations,  however,  they 
find  that  the  minor  seconds  can  be  produced  in  any  position 
resembling  the  mi,  ja  or  ti,  doh  with  which  they  are  already 
familiar,  and  they  begin  to  realize  its  true  nature. 

Yet,  although  they  can  sing  the  minor  second  as  mi,  ja 
or  ti,  doh  in  the  key  position,  they  find  much  difficulty  in 
producing  it  simply  as  a  minor  second  starting  from  any 
tone.  Hence,  the  song  experience  where  the  minor  second 
is  introduced  chromatically  is  given  to  the  children  first; 
then  their  "stunt"  performing  capacity  is  appealed  to 
and  they  are  given  the  minor  second  above  doh  to  sing,  the 
teacher  always  taking  care  that  the  tone  is  thought  of  as 
doh  while  the  interval  is  sung  to  the  syllable  la.  They  can 
sing  it  easily  enough  from  direct  imitation;  but  let  them 
precede  the  minor  second  to  la  by  singing  doh,  re,  doh  first, 
and  only  the  musical  ones  will  show  a  sufficiently  clear 
conception  of  the  nature  of  the  minor  second  to  be  able  to 
change  to  it  after  singing  the  whole  step. 

While  the  work  is  commenced  with  the  aid  of  the  key 


92 


EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 


names,  this  is  done  merely  as  an  introduction,  in  order  to 
make  it  possible  to  utilize  the  skill  already  possessed  in 
singing  major  and  minor  seconds.  The  plan  is  to  gain  the 
ability  to  sing  such  distances  independently  of  any  key 
feeling,  simply  as  certain  definite  intervals. 

The  exercises  consist  of  three  formulas  sung  from  the 
same  pitch. 


fe_J_J-^=jE|i^^:j^=jz:|=j=Jzzdz=t=j=| 


Doh 


soh 


RE 


■DOH- 


Tl 


—  Ml 


FA 

RF 

LA 


--SOH- 


FA 


A  glance  at  the  above  diagram  shows  that  in  the  first  the 
half  step  is  below  the  initial  tone;  in  the  second,  above; 
while  in  the  third,  the  tones  both  below  and  above  are 
whole  steps.  The  pupil  can  sing  these  easily  enough  if 
they  are  taken  in  their  key  positions;  but  when  thus  sung, 
they  fail  to  impress  the  average  mind  with  the  differences 
in  distance  that  the  intervals  represent.  By  taking  all 
three  exercises  on  the  identical  tone,  their  differences  are 
brought  into  juxtaposition  in  such  a  way  that  the  pupil 


THIRD  YEAR  93 

is  vividly  conscious  of  what  a  whole  step  or  a  half  step 
from  a  given  tone  means. 

The  three  weeks  during  which  a  portion  of  the  music 
time  is  given  to  such  drill  should  be  adequate  to  give  a 
vivid  comprehension  of  the  major  and  minor  seconds  to  all 
the  pupils,  even  if  some  do  not  perform  the  work  readily. 
The  object  is  not  to  make  the  child  do  it  right  the  first  time, 
but  to  make  him  ultimately  conscious  of  the  nature  of  the 
two  intervals. 

second  step:  relative  and  fixed  pitch  names 

In  singing  with  the  sound  names,  the  children  are  using 
the  family  names  of  the  tones,  and  the  doh  that  acts  as  papa 
and  gives  his  name  to  the  group  may  be  placed  on  a  line 
or  on  a  space;  he  may  be  a  doh,  low  or  high,  but  wherever 
he  is  his  entire  family  cluster  about  him.  Now  it  is  clear 
that  to  distinguish  between  a  high  doh  and  a  low  doh  we 
must  have  some  definite  name  to  indicate  the  exact  pitch  of 
doh.  We  must  know  on  what  street  either  the  high  doh  or 
the  low  doh  lives;  in  other  words,  we  must  have  the  fixed 
pitch  names. 

When  the  difference  between  relative  and  fixed  pitch 
names  is  understood  and  the  necessity  for  the  latter  is 
appreciated,  the  names  themselves  are  given.  This  step 
may  be  prefaced  by  the  story  of  the  Greek  use  of  the 
alphabet  names,  especially  if  the  children  have  had  any  of 
the  Greek  stories;  or  the  fact  can  be  stated  that  the  fixed 
pitch  names  of  the  tones  are  taken  from  the  first  seven  let- 
ters of  the  alphabet.    The  pupils  arc  already  familiar  with 


94  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

the  fact  that  after  the  first  seven  tones  the  first  tone  re- 
appears an  octave  higher  or  lower,  and  they  can  be  told 
that  the  same  thing  occurs  with  the  seven  letters  of  the 
alphabet. 

The  pupil  is  now  able  to  compare  an  actual  experience 
between  a  song  sentence  such  as  "I  want  to  go,"  sung  on 
the  tone  G  (see  page  66),  and  the  actual  tones  required 
from  a  similar  sequence  commencing  with  the  same  letter. 
The  song  will  call  for  a  half  step  below  G,  while  the  staff 
will  represent  a  whole  step  below  G.  By  actually  singing 
what  the  staff  calls  for  with  the  letter  names,  and  com- 
paring it  with  what  the  tune  calls  for,  the  pupil  is  made 
vividly  conscious  of  the  necessity  for  the  sharp,  in  exactly 
the  same  way  that  a  piano  pupil  would  be,  if  he  did  not 
know  the  keyboard  and  commenced  to  play  the  tune  on 
G.  He  would  realize  that  the  white  key  below  G  didn't 
sound  right,  and  he  would  immediately  feel  for  the  tone 
that  he  wanted.  This  distinction,  which  is  so  easily  taught 
at  the  keyboard,  is  a  difficult  one  to  establish  where  no 
instrument  is  used;  and  without  some  such  device  for 
supplying  the  necessary  experience,  the  knowledge  taught 
with  reference  to  the  staff  is  apt  to  become  purely  theo- 
retical and  confused  in  the  minds  of  a  great  many  of 
the  pupils.  The  basic  drill  in  interval  work  that  such 
practice  requires  is  of  greatest  importance  and  becomes 
especially  valuable  because  of  its  introduction  early  in  the 
course. 

The  motive  for  this  work  is  similar  to  that  of  the  first 
step;  but  here  there  is  an  additional  purpose,  i.  e.,  to  learn 


THIRD  YEAR  95 

the  actual  names  of  the  tones  and  get  the  ability  to  sing 
from  the  fixed  pitch  ladder,  starting  on  any  letter  as  the 
initial  tone.  If  the  work  with  the  aid  of  the  sound  ladder, 
in  the  previous  step,  was  thoroughly  done,  the  class,  as  a 
whole,  will  have  no  difficulty  in  singing  the  fixed  pitch 
names.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  throughout  that  these 
pitches  must  be  taken  independently  of  the  major  key  of 
C, — that  they  must  be  thought  of  simply  as  whole  steps  and 
half  steps, — hence  the  commencement  on  A  rather  than  C. 

third  step:  connecting  fixed  pitch  names  with  the 

STAFF 

The  problem  that  the  teacher  gives  the  children  is  how 
to  make  the  staff  represent  not  only  doh,  re,  mi,  but  also  the 
exact  pitch  or  the  letter  names  of  the  same  tones;  in  other 
words,  how  to  combine  both  relative  and  fixed  pitch  repre- 
sentation. The  previous  work  shows  the  need  for  such 
representation  and  also  supplies  the  material.  It  remains 
to  make  the  combination. 

The  story  can  be  told  to  the  children  of  how,  when  the 
staff  was  invented,  people  had  this  same  difficulty,  which 
they  overcame  by  choosing  one  of  the  letters  of  the  fixed 
pitch  series  and  writing  it  on  a  line  of  the  staff,  thus  having 
a  particular  line  represent  a  particular  letter.  When  one 
line  was  thus  fixed  all  the  other  lines  and  spaces  repre- 
sented certain  related  pitches,  which  followed  in  the  series 
just  as  the  letters  do.  The  question  may  now  be  asked 
what  letter  the  children  suppose  the  early  musicians  chose 
for  naming  the  staff.    By  writing  a  few  ornamental  G's  in 


96 


EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 


script  on  the  blackboard  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  have  them 
realize  that  the  G  clef,  which  they  have  noticed  in  music, 

The  Claves  or  Clefs 

is  simply  an  ornamental  G,  written  on  the  second  line  of 
the  staff,  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  clef  represent  the 
fixed  pitch  names. 

It  will  now  be  necessary  to  make  them  observe  what  has 
happened  to  the  staff  through  this  christening  process. 
The  first  line  now  represents  the  pitch  of  E,  because  the 
second  line  has  the  G  clef  upon  it ;  the  space  between,  there- 
fore, represents  F.  Since  this  line  and  space  represent  the 
letters  E  and  F  in  the  fixed  series,  the  distance  between 
them  will  be  a  minor  second.  There  is  the  same  distance 
between  the  third  line  and  the  space  above  it  (representing 
the  letters  B  and  C).  The  little  song  sentence  Gently 
Rocks  My  Light  Canoe  is  written  on  the  line  and  space 
of  E  and  F. 


Ceo  •  tly    rocks  my    light    ca  •  no*. 


This  now  can  be  sung  to  the  letter  names  and  the  children 
will  realize  how  different  it  sounds  from  the  way  they  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  singing  it.    In  other  words,  they  find 


THIRD  YEAR  97 

that  doh  cannot  now  be  placed  on  the  staff  anywhere  we 
choose,  but  only  where  the  sound  ladder  and  the  pitch 
ladder  agree.  The  children  practice  singing  the  names  of 
the  lines  and  spaces,  starting  at  any  letter  and  passing  to 
the  one  above  and  the  one  below,  until  they  appreciate 
the  fact  that  the  placing  of  the  G  clef  on  the  staff  has 
given  all  the  lines  and  spaces  a  definite  relationship  to  one 
another. 

FOURTH   STEP:   THE    SHARP,    FLAT,   AND    KEY   SIGNATURE 

We  are  now  ready  for  the  final  step,  i.  e.,  to  show  how 
the  staff  with  the  G  clef  can  be  made  to  represent  the  tone 
relationship  of  the  relative  pitch  ladder  shown  on  the  card- 
board, starting  at  any  tone.  The  little  tune  representing 
the  intervals  of  the  formula  doh,  re,  doh,  ti,  doh,  that  is,  a 
major  second  up  and  a  minor  second  down,  can  now  be 
sung  from  the  sound  ladder  with  doh  on  the  cardboard 
held  against  C  on  the  pitch  ladder.*  The  children  will 
find  that  the  sound  names  and  the  pitch  names  exactly 
agree.  The  ladder  can  now  be  slipped  up  to  F  and  the 
same  thing  tried;  there  will  be  a  similar  agreement  be- 
tween the  two  series  of  names. 

But  if  we  slip  it  up  to  G,  and  then  sing  the  series  with 
the  fixed  pitch  names,  we  shall  find  that  we  are  singing  the 
formula  not  as  the  little  tune  calls  for  it,  but  as  if  it  were 
re,  mi,  re,  doh,  re,  that  is,  a  major  second  both  up  and  down. 
In  other  words,  the  tone  F  does  not  represent  the  tone  we 
want  below  G.    The  children  know  that  there  is  a  tone 

*  See  illustration,  page  96. 
Music — 7 


98  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

there,  for  they  can  sing  from  the  sound  ladder  the  formula 
for  that  pitch.  What  is  lacking  is  room  on  the  staff  to 
represent  it.  The  next  sound  below  G  is  F,  a  major 
second  away.  The  tone  the  children  are  singing,  as  in- 
dicated by  the  sound  ladder,  they  realize  is  a  minor  second 
below.  The  problem  now  is  how  to  represent  this  upon 
the  staff. 

They  will  probably  announce  that  a  sharp  must  be 
placed  on  the  space  for  F;  when  asked  what  this  will 
represent,  they  will  probably  state  that  it  will  raise  the 
pitch  of  F.  It  is  best  to  nip  this  incorrect  form  of  speech 
in  the  bud  and  show  that  F  cannot  be  raised  because  it 
represents  only  a  minor  second  from  E,  and  that  if  we 
raise  its  pitch  it  ceases  to  be  F.  What  we  really  sing  is  an 
augmented  prime  above  F. 

As  we  have  no  place  on  the  staff  between  E  and  G  to 
represent  this  tone,  except  on  the  space  of  F,  we  do  it  by 
putting  a  sharp  sign  on  this  space.  It  is  not  F  raised  a 
minor  second  but  is  a  tone  a  minor  second  higher,  repre- 
sented in  the  place  of  F  by  means  of  a  sharp. 

The  same  formula  can  be  repeated  at  A,  when  the  neces- 
sity for  a  sharp  on  the  line  of  G  will  be  appreciated.  By 
holding  the  tone  ladder  up  against  B,  repeating  the  song 
and  comparing  it  with  the  series  required  by  the  letter 
names,  we  find  not  only  that  the  tone  below  is  too  low,  as 
in  the  other  cases,  but  that  the  tone  above  is  also  too  low. 
Thus  the  possibility  is  realized  of  using  the  sharp  on  any 
line  or  space  which  represents  a  sound  a  half  tone  lower 
than  that  we  wish  to  sing. 


THIRD  YEAR  99 

When  the  function  of  the  sharp  has  thus  been  learned 
thoroughly,  that  of  the  flat  is  studied,  and  the  necessity  for 
a  sign  to  take  the  place  of  a  tone  that  is  represented  too 
high  on  the  staff  is  noted.  Taking  such  a  song  sentence 
as  /  want  to  go  so  jar  away,  doh,  ti,  doh,  re,  mi,  ja,  fa, 
mi,  and  singing  from  F,  the  pupils  find  no  difficulty  in 
introducing  all  the  tones.  Ht. 

-\ r—r- 


i 


u# 


pfc=«t 


I  want        to  go  so       far  a  -   way. 

Now  let  them  sing  the  same  series,  but  with  the  letter 
names,  repeating  the  tone  of  A  often  enough  to  destroy  the 
tendency  that  the  memory  of  the  song  would  have  to  make 
them  sing  a  minor  second  above  instead  of  the  major 
second  which  the  A  B  represents.  The  children  recognize 
that  while  the  distance  from  the  space  of  A  to  the  line  of  B 
represented  the  distance  between  mi  and  ja  when  they 
sang  with  the  doh,  re,  mi  names,  when  they  sing  the  same 
thing  with  the  names  that  the  staff  calls  for,  the  distance 
between  A  and  B  requires  a  major  second  instead  of  a  minor 
second.  In  other  words,  they  discover  by  actual  singing 
that  mi  to  ja  requires  a  minor  second  and  A  to  B  represents  a 
major  second.  They  will  be  made  to  see  that  they  are  sing- 
ing the  tone  halfway  between  A  and  B,  and  that  there  is  no 
way  to  represent  this  on  the  staff,  for  the  next  tone  above 
A  is  B,  a  major  second.  They  now  realize  that  the  sharp 
sign  they  have  been  using  will  not  do,  because  this  repre- 
sents a  tone  above  that  of  the  line  or  space  on  which  it 
occurs. 


ioo  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

Now  the  necessity  for  a  new  sign  may  be  fully  developed 
so  that  even  the  more  thoughtless  children  will  understand 
what  is  required.  As  in  the  case  of  the  sharp,  the  flat 
should  not  be  given  until  the  need  for  it  has  been  thor- 
oughly felt  and  the  object  that  it  will  accomplish  realized 
by  the  entire  class.  Then  the  flat  sign  can  be  put  upon  the 
line  B  and  the  children  will  perceive  that  in  singing  with 
the  fixed  pitch  names,  as  required  by  the  staff  after  the 
flat  is  used,  they  are  singing  exactly  the  same  tone  that 
the  song  requires. 

They  can  now  be  shown  that  this  relation  between  mi 
and  fa  may  be  represented  on  lines  or  spaces  a  major 
second  apart.  Thus  in  singing  G  as  mi  the  space  of  A  can 
be  utilized  to  represent  fa  simply  by  placing  a  flat  on  it, 
exactly  as  in  the  case  of  A,  where  a  major  second  was  re- 
quired by  the  pitch  names  and  a  minor  second  by  the 
sound  names. 

When  the  functions  of  the  sharp  and  flat  are  thoroughly 
understood,  the  pupils  are  ready  for  the  explanation  of  the 
key  signature.  Taking  the  cardboard  with  the  doh,  re, 
mi  names  and  placing  it  so  that  doh  will  come  against 
G  in  the  letter  column,  we  find  that  the  two  scries 
agree  with  the  one  exception  that  F  sharp  is  required 
to  represent  the  sound  ti  below  doh.  This  relation  can  be 
grasped  by  singing  both  pitch  names  and  relative  names. 
Since  F  sharp  has  become  a  regular  member  of  the  family 
when  doh  comes  on  G,  it  will  save  time  in  writing  it  to  place 
it  at  the  very  beginning;  hence,  it  is  put  on  the  fifth  line 
where  it  is  readily  seen,  and  thereafter  every  note  written 


THIRD  YEAR  ioi 

on  the  fifth  line  or  F  is  understood  to  mean  F  sharp.  This, 
the  children  are  told,  is  called  the  key  signature  and  always 
necessitates  that  doh  shall  come  on  G.  Now  by  placing  the 
ladder  on  the  cardboard  so  that  doh  will  come  on  F,  it  will 
be  discovered  that  fa  requires  B  flat  to  represent  it,  and  B 
flat  therefore  becomes  a  regular  member  of  the  family 
of  tones  in  which  doh  comes  on  F.  Hence,  by  placing  B 
flat  at  the  beginning  of  the  staff  we  imply  that  doh  is 
on  F. 

Parallel  to  this  work,  the  teacher  carries  on  song  sing- 
ing which  requires  drill  in  tone  work,  articulation,  and  ex- 
pression of  the  idea.  In  the  process  of  learning  these 
songs,  the  accurate  observation  work  of  pulse,  duration, 
and  pitch  of  the  previous  grades  is  continued.  At  the 
same  time,  the  children  are  made  to  understand  that  this 
accurate  learning  of  the  staff  is  the  main  business  of  the 
singing  period,  and  that  a  test  of  their  efficiency  will  be 
given  them  at  the  end  of  the  work  dealing  with  it.  Its  ac- 
complishment requires  three  or  four  months. 

The  latter  part  of  the  third  year  work  will  be  taken  up 
with  practice  in  the  relationship  of  the  three  keys  C,  F, 
and  G,  songs  being  used  that  make  transitions  from  one  to 
the  other  and  cause  the  pupils  to  appreciate  the  change  of 
key.  There  should  also  be  considerable  writing  of  the 
same  song  sentences  in  the  three  keys,  both  on  the  black- 
board and  on  music  paper,  the  modifying  sharp  or  flat 
being  placed  as  the  key  signature.  The  work  now  intro- 
duced will  apply  this  knowledge  and  develop  further  the 
notation  of  rhythm. 


102  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

third  stage:  fractional  pulse 

Short  motifs  similar  to  those  previously  mentioned  are 
now  written  in  the  three  keys,  reviewing  the  time  values 
already  learned.  Sequences  of  three  or  four  tones  from 
songs  may  be  sung  by  the  teacher  or  one  of  the  pupils,  and 
the  class  may  write  them  in  three  keys. 

Although  the  children  in  their  rote  songs  have  sung  all 
varieties  of  rhythm,  the  forms  they  have  learned  to  recog- 
nize are  limited  to  the  pulse  represented  as  a  quarter  note, 
the  union  of  two  pulses  or  half  note,  the  division  of  a  pulse 
into  two  or  the  eighth  note,  and  the  dotted  half  and  the 
whole  note.  These  same  values  with  their  equivalent 
rests  have  been  used  in  both  simple  and  compound  meter. 
The  compound  meter  required  one  new  sign,  the  dotted 
quarter;  but  as  the  addition  of  the  dot  to  a  quarter  exactly 
completed  the  pulse,  leaving  no  fraction  of  time  to  be  rep- 
resented by  a  fractional  pulse,  it  resembled  in  this  respect 
the  dotted  half  and  was  easily  grasped. 

The  pupils  are  now  ready  to  study  the  entirely  new  effect 
of  placing  a  dot  after  a  note  when  the  dot  leaves  a  fraction 
of  a  pulse  to  be  represented  by  a  succeeding  note.  For 
instance,  if  a  dot  is  placed  after  a  quarter  note  the  tone 
represented  lasts  one  and  a  half  pulses,  and  a  half  pulse 
note  is  needed  to  complete  the  second  pulse.  Again,  if  a 
dot  is  placed  after  a  half  pulse  note  the  resulting  fractional 
note  required  is  a  quarter  of  a  pulse.  This  produces  an 
entirely  different  musical  effect  from  that  resulting  from 
the  use  of  dots  where  no  fraction  of  a  pulse  is  left  over. 

The  musical  movement  or  idea  thus  represented  should 


THIRD  YEAR 


103 


be  thoroughly  grasped,  together  with  the  comprehension  of 
the  sign  that  represents  it.  The  most  characteristic  feature 
to  be  borne  in  mind  is  that  while  the  fractional  tone  that 
follows  a  dotted  pulse  or  dotted  half  pulse  seems  to  fill  out 
the  time  in  the  pulse  of  the  note  preceding,  it  is  sung  as  if 
it  belonged  to  the  tone  immediately  following.  If,  for  in- 
stance, one  were  to  sing  the  Battle  Hymn  oj  the  Republic, 
in  which  the  dotted  half  pulse  is  constantly  occurring,  he 
would  notice  that  the  quick,  or  fractional  tones,  though 
they  seem  to  the  eye  to  be  joined  to  the  tone  that  precedes, 
are  heard  as  if  belonging  to  the  tone  that  follows.  Their 
representation  in  the  printed  music  gives  them  as  exact 
fractions  of  preceding  pulses  instead  of  relating  them  to 
what  follows. 


¥=v 


£ 


S^ 


=S=P= 


ft     ft 


£ 


The  same  characteristic  is  true  of  the  dotted  pulse.  If 
one  should  sing  the  first  two  measures  of  America,  he  would 
notice  that  the  tone,  which  comes  on  the  word  "of," 
while  represented  as  a  fraction  of  the  preceding  pulse,  is 
sung  as  if  united  to  the  last  note  of  second  measure.  The 
caesura  is  after  the  word  "'tis,"  and  would  be  impossible 
after  the  word  "of." 


i 


% 


My    coun-try,    'tis        of    thee. 
The  first  thing  that  we  should  do,  then,  is  to  call  the  chil- 
dren's attention  to  the  effect  produced  by  this  way  of 


104  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

grouping  fractional  pulses.  Familiar  songs  which  involve 
the  dotted  pulse  or  half  pulse  are  sung;  such  are  The  Star 
Spangled  Banner,  Home,  Sweet  Home,  The  Red,  White 
and  Blue;  in  fact,  there  is  hardly  a  song  that  does  not 
supply  many  illustrations.  It  is  best  to  take  strongly 
rhythmic  tunes  which  the  children  have  sung  by  rote,  and 
as  they  sing  have  them  swing  the  pulses  and  think  how 
the  tones  are  related  to  them.  It  will  help  greatly  to  have 
on  the  board  a  diagram  representing  the  tunes, — by  circles 
and  dashes, — to  show  the  relation  of  the  short  to  the  long 
tones,  and  make  it  clear  that  the  former  belong  to  what 
follows  rather  than  to  what  precedes. 

After  this  peculiarity  has  been  carefully  observed,  the 
way  it  is  expressed  in  notation  will  be  studied.  The  chil- 
dren will  notice  that  in  writing  the  tune  the  fractional  tones 
are  part  of  the  time  measurements  of  the  preceding  tones; 
that  in  this  respect  dotted  pulses  and  half  pulses  are  alike, 
but  that  there  is  a  fundamental  difference  by  which  they 
can  always  be  distinguished :  the  dotted  pulse  requires  not 
only  the  pulse  on  which  the  tone  begins  but  the  commence- 
ment of  a  new  pulse  before  the  fractional  tone  and  thus  it 
follows  the  second  pulse,  while  in  the  dotted  half  pulse 
the  fractional  tone  is  sung  just  before  the  next  pulse;  the 
dotted  pulse  and  its  fraction  complete  two  pulses;  the  dot- 
ted half  pulse  and  its  fraction  complete  exactly  one  pulse. 

It  will  be  seen  in  this  presentation  of  dotted  notes  that 
the  attention  is  first  drawn  to  the  musical  effect,  then  to 
the  idea  itself,  and  lastly  to  its  representation  in  relation 
to  the  idea  and  not  in  relation  to  the  arithmetical  problem 


THIRD  YEAR  105 

which  the  notation  presents.  The  latter  is  really  diametric- 
ally opposed  to  the  musical  effect,  since  it  represents  the 
fractional  note  as  part  of  what  precedes,  while  the  musical 
idea  requires  the  fraction  of  a  note  to  be  united  to  what 
follows  it. 

After  this  principle  has  been  represented,  it  is  prac- 
tically applied  to  motifs.  For  instance,  the  scale  is  written 
as  dotted  quarters  and  eighths,  then  as  dotted  eighths  and 
sixteenths,  and  is  sung  in  both  ways,  the  pulses  being 
swung  meanwhile.  It  is  also  sung  at  different  rates  of 
speed,  until  the  children  realize  that  the  dotted  quarter 
followed  by  an  eighth  is  not  a  longer  representation  of  the 
same  effect,  as  is  the  dotted  eighth  followed  by  a  sixteenth, 
but  one  entirely  different,  due  to  the  entrance  of  the  second 
pulse  into  the  first.  For  if  we  change  the  speed  of  our 
pulses  and  sing  the  dotted  pulse  followed  by  an  eighth  so 
that  it  is  faster  than  an  eighth  followed  by  a  sixteenth,  the 
effect  is  still  the  same. 

FOURTH   STAGE."  APPLICATION  AND  DRILL 

Motifs  arc  now  taken  from  songs  in  which  the  melody 
moves  in  pulse  tones,  and  the  children  are  asked  to  change 
these  according  to  their  fancy  by  introducing  dotted  pulses 
and  half  pulses.  They  should  write  both  the  original  as 
well  as  the  changed  version  on  the  board  and  the  class 
should  sing  both.  With  this  increase  of  their  knowledge 
the  children  should  be  practically  able  to  write  the  notation 
of  their  own  songs. 

The  children  now  have  an  understanding  of  the  notation, 


106  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

for  all  the  essentials  have  been  worked  out  from  the  feeling 
of  the  idea  in  music.  This  principle  has  been  indicated  by 
action  and  diagram  until  the  idea  has  been  thoroughly 
grasped,  and  then  the  notation  that  represents  the  idea  has 
been  learned.  What  they  need  now  is  sufficient  drill  in 
the  application  of  this  knowledge.  The  rest  of  the  third 
year  is  taken  up  with  making  perfectly  clear  the  staff  rep- 
resentation of  both  pitch  and  rhythm  so  far  illustrated. 
With  the  commencement  of  the  fourth  year,  as  will  be 
seen  in  the  following  chapters,  systematic  drill  will  develop 
a  technique  for  a  sufficiently  rapid  use  of  this  material  to 
make  it  musically  practical. 


CHAPTER  X 

INTRODUCTORY  TO   THE   SECOND   OR   SYN- 
THETIC PHASE  OF  MUSIC  STUDY 

The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  explain  the  principles 
that  will  govern  the  work  in  the  next  three  grades  and  to 
compare  it  with  that  of  the  work  of  the  first  three  grades, 
in  order  to  give  a  clearer  idea  of  the  principles  underlying 
the  work  as  a  whole. 

The  pupils  have  been  learning  the  exact  differences  of  the 
pitch  and  time  durations  of  the  tones  occurring  in  their 
songs.  At  the  same  time  this  analytic  process  has  been 
carried  on  with  reference  to  the  song  or  part  of  the  song 
as  a  whole,  so  that  the  musical  significance  of  what  was 
being  learned  should  not  be  lost.  The  necessity  for  recog- 
nizing the  separate  tones  as  parts  of  a  melodic  movement, 
or  musical  thought,  is  especially  urgent  in  music  in  which 
analytic  study  so  soon  loses  its  significance  for  lack  of 
connection  with  what  it  serves.  Such  connection  is  not  as 
readily  lost  in  studies  where  the  material  is  presented  to 
the  eye,  as,  for  instance,  in  nature  work. 

The  way  in  which  the  study  of  a  flower  is  taken  up  will 
serve  to  illustrate  our  purpose.  From  the  beginning  the 
impression  of  the  thing  as  a  whole  is  perfectly  clear  in  the 

107 


io8  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

mind;  the  ideas  of  dandelion  and  violet  cannot  possibly  be 
confused.  The  aim  of  the  teacher,  therefore,  is  to  lead  her 
students  to  discover  how  these  beautiful  wholes  are  made 
up  of  complicated  parts;  hence  by  a  process  of  analysis 
the  flowers  are  dissected  into  calyx  and  corolla,  stamens 
and  pistil,  and  these  in  turn  are  further  subdivided.  The 
teacher  has  no  fear  that  anywhere  in  the  process  the  parts 
of  a  dandelion  may  be  confused  with  those  of  a  violet.  In 
other  words,  the  consciousness  of  the  whole  is  never  lost 
because  of  emphasis  upon  the  relationship  of  its  parts.  It 
would  be  absurd  to  suggest  that  the  teacher  while  showing 
how  the  petals  of  a  rose  unfold,  runs  any  risk  of  having  her 
pupils  think  they  are  examining  a  cabbage.  This  ex- 
amination of  parts  is  as  far  as  nature  study  goes. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  analysis  of  music,  the  relation- 
ship of  the  part  to  the  whole  must  be  constantly  kept  in 
mind.  In  this  it  resembles  manual  training  in  which  the 
parts  of  the  sled  or  stool  that  are  being  made  are  constantly 
thought  of  in  relationship  to  the  completed  article  pres- 
ent in  the  mind.  In  this  respect  the  purely  creative  artist 
requires  constructiveness  in  a  far  greater  degree  than  the 
mechanic.  In  the  beginning,  the  object  he  is  to  create 
exists  only  in  the  mind,  and  he  gradually  makes  this  mani- 
fest by  combining  parts.  He  is  distinguished  from  the 
scientist  in  that  the  scientist  is  interested  in  parts  because 
they  are  elements,  whereas  the  artist  cares  about  them  only 
as  they  may  influence  the  effect  in  the  whole  conception. 
The  aim  of  all  his  work  is  so  to  relate  the  parts  that  one 
strong,  dominant  impression  shall  be  made:  if  he  be  a 


SYNTHETIC  PHASE  OF  MUSIC  STUDY        109 

painter,  all  the  separate  colors  must  combine  to  form  one 
tone. 

The  composer,  like  other  artists,  aims  to  produce  a 
certain  effect  of  the  whole.  By  means  of  various  tone 
relationships  woven  together,  he  expresses  one  theme, 
which  would  be  altered  were  any  of  the  component  parts 
omitted.  But  in  his  effort  to  present  his  composition  as 
an  entirety,  the  musician  meets  an  obstacle  foreign  to 
other  artists.  Music,  unlike  painting  or  sculpture,  or  even 
architecture,  does  not  immediately  impress  one  as  a  uni- 
fied whole.  It  has  to  be  presented  in  time  through  an 
infinite  series  of  effects;  tone  succeeds  tone  in  a  melody, 
chord  succeeds  chord  in  a  symphony.  Tone  and  chord 
must  be  held  in  memory  and  related  to  larger  and  larger 
units,  however  unperceived  the  process  may  be,  until  at 
last  we  have  one  of  the  most  complex  demands  on  the 
synthetic  ability  of  the  human  mind. 

Unfortunately,  human  experience  affords  but  little  op- 
portunity to  prepare  for  this  demand.  The  ordinary  naive 
experience  of  the  race  produced  the  foundations  of  music 
in  folk  song  and  dance,  but  between  these  and  the  vast 
tonal  creations  of  Wagner  or  Beethoven  there  is  a  gap  that 
this  folk  music  does  not  supply.  Where  talent  and  en- 
vironment are  favorable  this  may  be  easily  bridged;  but 
unfortunately  for  the  large  majority,  general  experience 
and  average  ability  do  not  suffice  for  bridging  this  chasm. 
In  order  to  give  the  large  majority  the  possibility  of  en- 
joying music  otherwise  beyond  their  comprehension,  it  is 
preeminently  the  function  of  the  public  schools  to  supply 


no  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

the  needed  training  in  musical  synthesis,  or  the  relating  of 
the  parts  to  the  whole  composition. 

In  the  first  three  years  of  school  training,  starting  with 
the  song  learned  as  a  whole  from  imitation,  we  lead  the 
pupil  step  by  step  to  recognize  the  part  that  tone  color  and 
manipulation  play  in  the  expression  of  the  whole ;  in  other 
words,  we  give  him  ideas  of  interpretation.  Then,  too, 
by  means  of  acting  and  picturing,  and  finally  by  nota- 
tion, he  has  learned  the  subtle  tone  relationships  that  pro- 
duce the  movement  of  the  tune.  Thus  he  has  developed 
ideas  of  structure. 

The  aid  of  music  teaching  is  primarily  to  make  possi- 
ble a  deeper  appreciation.  Appreciation  is  constructive. 
Hence,  the  work  of  the  following  three  years  utilizes  the 
power  gained  in  observing  parts  in  relation  to  the  whole, 
for  it  starts,  not  with  the  whole  as  in  the  first  three  years, 
but  with  the  parts  themselves.  The  aim  is  to  have  the 
pupils  conceive  the  whole  from  the  parts.  Therefore  the 
study  of  the  second  three  years  is  a  more  formally  syn- 
thetic process,  doing  for  music  what  we  do  for  architec- 
ture, painting,  or  literature  when  we  appreciate  a  building, 
a  picture,  or  a  poem,  by  getting  the  effect  of  the  whole 
through  becoming  conscious  of  how  the  parts  unite  to  pro- 
duce it. 

This  process  may  seem  to  lead  merely  to  the  attainment 
of  the  skill  necessary  for  sight  singing.  But  while  sight 
singing  is  the  immediate  aim,  the  real  aim  is  to  attain  the 
artistic  power  of  grasping  the  unity  of  the  separate  impres- 
sions that  the  eye  or  the  ear  conveys  to  us. 


SYNTHETIC  PHASE  OF  MUSIC  STUDY        in 

On  the  other  hand,  that  it  is  impossible  to  master  the 
constructive  side  of  music  essential  to  full  appreciation, 
unless  one  first  goes  through  the  analysis  requisite  to  make 
clear  the  nature  of  the  musical  elements,  will  be  evident  as 
soon  as  the  relation  between  the  analytic  and  the  synthetic 
process  is  understood. 

The  first  three  years'  training  has  been  concerned  with 
learning  the  musical  ideas  and  their  notation.  The  pupils 
are  now  ready  to  test  the  knowledge  by  putting  musical 
ideas  together.  In  the  following  chapter  the  first  step  of 
this  synthetic  process  will  be  described. 


CHAPTER  XI 

FOURTH  YEAR  WORK:  PHRASE  CONCEPTION 

first  stage:  accuracy  in  phrase  conception 

In  order  that  a  beginner  may  think  out  how  a  musical 
passage  goes,  it  is  necessary  that  the  passage  have  a  form 
distinct  and  definite  enough  to  enable  him  to  grasp  it  as  a 
whole;  at  the  same  time  it  must  not  be  so  long  that  it  will 
be  beyond  his  capacity  to  relate  all  its  parts.  If  the  reader 
will  sing  the  first  two  tones  of  America  (see  page  114)  he 
will  not  necessarily  be  conscious  of  any  characteristic  idea 
in  connection  with  the  form  that  the  sound  represents.  Let 
him  add  the  third  and  fourth  tone  and  a  fairly  definite 
form  will  be  established;  still,  the  passage  does  not  seem  to 
be  complete.  Now  let  him  add  the  next  tones,  making  six 
in  all,  and  he  will  have  a  clearly  defined  passage.  The 
passage  is  so  clear  and  well  defined  that  it  forms,  as  it 
were,  the  text  of  the  entire  composition,  being  repeated 
in  different  pitches  with  only  slight  changes,  and  these 
in  the  form  of  variations  rather  than  of  radical  changes. 
Take  another  illustration.  If  the  reader  will  hum  over  the 
first  six  tones  of  The  Star  Spangled  Banner  he  will  find  that 

the  first  four  tones  group  together,  as  do  the  last  two,  and 

112 


FOURTH  YEAR  WORK  113 

that  these  groups  unite  to  form  the  rhythmic  text  of  the 
tune. 

THE  STAR   SPANGLED  BANNER 


Phrases 


motifs  motifs 


^rrtT-jia^i 


^ 


It  is  obvious  that  if  we  should  take  a  portion  of  one  of 
these  units  by  itself,  it  would  require  considerable  musician- 
ship to  decide  from  exactly  what  tune  it  was  taken,  but  he 
would  be  a  very  dull  person  who  could  not  recognize  the 
complete  unit.  This  unit  in  both  these  tunes  forms  a 
complete  design  which  keeps  recurring  in  the  remainder  of 
the  tune,  and  which  gives  it  a  definite  character.  Hence,  in 
training  a  beginner  to  grasp  the  complete  musical  thought, 
we  should  take  such  an  organic  element  for  our  unit. 

If  the  reader  will  sing  America  and  The  Star  Spangled 
Banner  through,  he  will  see  that  the  rhythm  of  the  phrase 
expressed  in  the  first  six  notes  in  both  tunes  keeps  re- 
curring, though  it  is  almost  always  more  or  less  changed. 
These  changes  occur  sometimes  in  the  number  of  tones 
used  in  a  pulse,  making  a  variation  in  duration;  more  often, 
however,  change  is  in  the  distance  of  pitch  interval  or  me- 
lodic curve,  while  sometimes  it  is  in  both  pitch  and  dura- 
tion, leaving  only  the  metrical  number  of  pulses  to  show 
the  relationship  of  thought  to  what  precedes  and  follows. 

It  is  evident  that  there  are  two  essentials  in  the  study  of 
such  elements:  first,  the  grasping  of  the  phrase  itself;  and, 
Music — 8 


ii4 


EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 


second,  the  ability  to  recognize  its  main  features  under  the 
variations  through  which  it  passes.  We  can  recognize  in 
both  these  tunes  a  number  of  familiar  passages  where  the 
phrase  is  well  marked.  In  making  this  point  clear  to  the 
children  these  phrases  are  put  on  the  board,  under  one 
another.  For  instance,  if  we  write  the  tune  America  in 
two-measure  groups,  we  shall  have  it  in  phrases. 
AMERICA 


l 


3: 


W* 


i 


ES5 


i 


Phrases 


•  P- 


•  •         S 


m         I  g 


P=? 


^^ 


±=£ 


^^ 


£=* 


EE£ 


FOURTH  YEAR  WORK  1 15 

There  will  be  seven  groups,  all  alike  with  reference  to 
metrical  grouping,  each  containing  two  measures  of  three 
pulses  each.  The  first,  second,  fourth,  and  fifth  groups 
vary  in  pitch  as  well  as  in  melodic  curve,  but  are  alike  in 
their  duration  values;  the  third,  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth 
vary  in  durative  elements  as  well  as  in  pitch  and  melodic 
curve ;  these  variations,  however,  are  only  in  parts,  so  that 
the  relation  to  the  original  is  perfectly  evident.  After  a  few 
tunes  have  been  thus  analyzed  the  pupils  see  how  changes 
in  pitch,  melodic  curve,  and  duration  are  introduced  in 
the  metrical  pattern,  without  departing  so  far  from  the 
original  as  to  prevent  recognition  of  the  relationship. 

For  further  practice  the  phrase  of  a  familiar  tune,  or 
of  a  new  one,  is  taken  and  the  pupils  see  how  many  effect- 
ive variations  they  can  write  for  themselves.  This  may  be 
done  by  one  at  the  board,  the  others  criticising  and  sug- 
gesting; or  separately  at  the  desks,  with  only  the  original 
phrase  written  on  the  board.  In  the  latter  case,  each  pupil 
sings  the  variations  he  has  written  while  the  class  state 
whether  the  changes  introduced  are  in  pitch  or  rhythm, 
or  both  combined,  and  in  what  pulses.  It  must  always 
be  borne  in  mind  that  the  changes  should  be  only  varia- 
tions; through  them  all  must  be  felt  the  original. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  of  the  value  of  such  an  exercise 
in  developing  the  very  qualities  essential  to  the  aim  of 
public  school  music.  It  draws  attention  to  the  idea,  brings 
out  the  structure  and  nature  of  the  melody,  and  prepares 
the  student  to  follow  the  complex  designs  that  the  great 
works  of  the  masters  present. 


Ii6  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

second  stage:  speed  in  phrase  conception 
But  this  training  can  be  made  more  intensive  if  we  add 
to  it  the  skill  needed  by  the  sight  singer.  The  sight  singer 
must  not  only  grasp  the  original  design  and  hold  it  firmly 
through  the  multitude  of  changes  that  it  undergoes,  he 
must  also  do  it  rapidly,  thinking  ahead  of  his  singing,  for 
his  whole  ability  to  sing  at  sight  rests  on  his  power  of 
rapid  comprehension.  Like  the  reader  of  poetry,  he  must 
see  a  line  or  two  ahead.  This  additional  feature  we  shall 
term  speed  work,  for  it  is  necessary  for  the  pupil  not 
simply  to  grasp  the  idea  eventually,  but  to  do  it  with 
sufficient  speed  to  enable  him  to  sing  the  passage.  If  this 
process  that  precedes  the  singing  is  definite,  the  production 
rarely  causes  difficulty. 

To  give  training  in  this  division  of  work  an  unfamiliar 
phrase  is  written, — at  first  one  not  longer  than  an  idea  of 
three  or  four  notes, — which,  after  it  has  been  fairly  seen, 
is  quickly  rubbed  out,  and  the  children  are  asked  to  sing 
the  passage.  By  gradually  increasing  the  length  and  com- 
plexity of  the  unit  there  will  be  a  steady  advance  in  the 
capacity  to  see  and  comprehend.  Another  way  to  attain 
the  same  result  is  to  point  out  a  phrase  on  the  blackboard 
staff  without  writing  the  notes.  This  is  easier  than  the 
preceding  in  one  respect:  the  moving  of  the  pointer  suggests 
the  rhythm.  A  third  method  utilizes  the  geography  charts 
which  most  rooms  have.  A  number  of  short  phrases  can 
be  written  on  the  board  before  the  children  come  in  and 
the  map  pulled  down  over  them.  By  once  raising  the 
map  and  promptly  lowering  it  again,  the  children  get  a 


FOURTH  YEAR  WORK  117 

rapid  glance  at  the  passage;  they  can  sing  as  much  as  they 
have  been  able  to  grasp. 

The  essential  thing  in  this  work  is  that  the  pupil  shall 
not  spell  note  by  note,  but  shall  get  a  conception  of  the 
phrase  as  a  whole  before  the  first  note  is  uttered.  This  is 
one  of  the  most  difficult  things  to  accomplish,  and  in  the 
early  stages  of  the  work  even  the  most  experienced  teacher 
may  be  deceived  as  to  which  process  the  pupils  are  follow- 
ing, because  they  are  so  skillful  at  singing  without  thinking 
that  they  can  spell  out  passages  fast  enough  to  make  them 
sound  as  if  the  correct  mental  process  had  taken  place. 
But  the  limit  of  this  rapid  spelling  is  soon  reached,  and 
just  at  the  time  when  musicianly  work  is  expected  from 
children  in  the  upper  grades,  we  unfortunately  discover 
that  the  very  foundation  of  right  musical  thinking  has  not 
been  laid.  Hence  the  need  of  the  strictest  attention  in 
order  to  make  sure  that  in  the  first  steps  of  phrase  reading 
it  is  a  legitimate  reading  and  not  a  spelling.  If  this  first 
step  is  taken  correctly,  practice  will  develop  skill.  If  not, 
the  ability  to  spell  rapidly  from  note  to  note  will  prove  in- 
adequate just  when  the  teacher  is  expecting  to  see  the 
fruit  of  her  labor. 

Children  of  this  age  enjoy  speed  work  intensely.  It  is 
a  challenge  to  their  ability,  and  a  chance  to  show  their 
skill  and  power  of  concentration.  The  difficulty  lies  in 
seeing  that  every  individual  does  the  work,  for  it  is  easy 
to  get  an  apparent  class  response  while  in  reality  a  few  of 
the  leaders  are  giving  the  idea  and  the  majority  are  merely 
following.    In  this  event  it  becomes  a  stimulating  exercise 


Ii8  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

only  for  those  who  least  require  it,  and  entirely  leaves  out 
the  slow  and  dull  who  really  need  the  practice.  This 
result  can  easily  follow  and  the  teacher  hardly  be  aware  of 
it.  The  way  to  prevent  it  is  by  careful  selection  of  the 
material,  to  the  end  that  it  may  exactly  suit  the  capacity 
of  the  pupils.  If  the  passage  is  too  difficult  or  the  changes 
allowed  are  so  radical  that  the  original  is  lost,  a  large  ma- 
jority of  the  class  will  derive  no  benefit  from  the  work. 

All  the  exercises  so  far  described  in  this  chapter  are 
supplementary  to  the  reading  of  the  music  that  is  used 
in  the  grades,  and  should  be  carried  on  in  connection  with 
it.  If  the  phrases  in  the  songs  of  the  reader  are  taken 
as  material,  the  exercises  become  a  stimulating  aid,  not 
only  for  learning  the  songs  rppidly  but  for  the  musicianly 
comprehension  of  their  structure. 

Constant  comparison  can  be  made  between  the  structure 
of  the  music  and  its  adaptation  to  the  words.  In  a  good 
song  book  much  attention  is  paid  to  this  element  and  the 
words  become  a  helpful  index  to  the  structural  thought 
of  the  melody.  Unfortunately  there  are  a  great  many 
songs — some  of  them  fine  ones — in  which  the  form  of  the 
melodic  thought  and  the  form  of  the  poetic  thought  do  not 
agree.  The  first  measure  of  America  is  an  unfortunate 
example  of  disagreement  between  the  accent  of  the  pulse 
and  that  of  the  foot.  Where  singing  is  done  with  proper 
consideration  of  the  ideas  of  interpretation  and  structure, 
the  pupils  become  critics  of  the  material  given  them  and 
it  is  easy  to  awaken  their  interest  when  they  find  a  really 
expressive  song.    Their  pleasure  now  is  not  confined  to  a 


FOURTH  YEAR  WORK  1 19 

senseless  reaction  to  its  jingle  or  sentimental  sensuousness 
but  is  a  real  appreciation  of  the  work,  for  this  appreciation 
is  being  judged  for  its  expressive  value  in  relation  to  ideas. 

third  stage:  learning  new  keys;  rhythm  practice 

The  phrase  work,  with  the  training  in  musicianship  that 
it  demands,  is  of  so  great  importance  that  it  can  well  be 
made  the  chief  work  in  structural  ideas  for  the  entire  year. 
In  connection  with  this  it  will  be  well  to  enlarge  the  knowl- 
edge of  keys  by  applying  the  principles  learned  in  the 
third  grade. 

The  essential  thing  to  bear  in  mind  is  that  in  passing 
into  a  key  requiring  one  more  sharp  or  one  less  flat  the 
fourth  of  the  old  key  becomes  the  seventh  of  the  new; 
while  in  passing  into  keys  requiring  one  more  flat  or  one 
less  sharp  the  opposite  is  true,  for  then  the  seventh  of  the 
old  key  becomes  the  fourth  of  the  new.  Memorizing  the 
relationship  of  the  new  doh  or  tonic  to  the  new  signature 
helps  in  the  quick  and  sure  recognition  of  the  key.  The 
last  sharp  will  be  the  seventh,  while  the  last  flat  will  be  the 
fourth  .of  the  key.  By  this  method  the  keys  are  presented 
in  their  relational  aspect  and  a  basis  for  appreciation  of 
modulation  is  laid. 

The  advance  work  in  tone  measurement  for  the  fourth 
year  will  be  special  practice  in  compound  rhythm.  This 
introduces  no  new  duration  values,  but  the  swing,  or  go, 
of  its  pulses  needs  practice.  The  pupils  by  this  time  will 
have  had  plenty  of  experience  in  their  songs,  hence  all  that 
is  needed  is  to  associate  the  sound  of  the  compound  pulse 


120  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

with  its  appearance.  The  first  two  units  in  the  even  and 
uneven  ratios  given  in  Chapter  XV,  page  152,  should  be 
practiced  in  monotone  in  various  combinations  until  the 
students  are  familiar  with  the  swing  of  the  pulse. 

It  would  help  to  make  frequent  comparison  with  the 
similar  ratios  in  simple  grouping  until  the  distinction  be- 
tween simple  and  compound  can  be  readily  conceived. 


CHAPTER  XII 

SPECIAL  WORK  OF  THE  FIFTH  YEAR:  FORMAL 
STUDY  OF  TONE  AND  KEY  RELATIONSHIP 

The  regular  work  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  years  merely 
develops  further  what  was  introduced  in  the  fourth,  i.  e., 
the  passing  from  the  notation  to  its  conception  and  ex- 
pression; or,  in  other  words,  learning  to  think  rapidly  from 
the  way  the  music  looks  to  the  way  it  sounds,  and  then 
singing  it.  Nothing  fundamentally  new  can  be  introduced 
either  in  pitch  or  in  notation,  with  perhaps  the  exception 
of  syncopation,  in  which  the  metrical  regularity  of  the 
pulses  is  disturbed.  The  complexity  of  syncopation  can  be 
easily  studied  in  connection  with  the  songs  in  which  it 
occurs,  this  practice  being  sufficient  for  the  use  of  the 
general  student. 

There  is,  however,  some  further  technical  knowledge 
which  is  of  great  value  in  general  musical  training.  The 
introduction  of  a  limited  amount  of  such  technical  work  is 
for  the  aid  its  practice  gives  in  musical  appreciation.  This 
technical  work  is  needed  during  the  fifth  and  sixth  years, 
but  its  exact  place  may  be  regulated  by  the  efficiency  of 
the  individual  class.     We   shall,   however,  describe   the 


122  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

various  kinds  of  work  in  the  order  in  which  they  would 
naturally  come  in  this  period. 

FIRST  STAGE :  THE  FUNDAMENTALS  OF  VOICE  CONTROL 

In  the  fifth  grade,  for  instance,  it  would  be  well  to  de- 
velop a  more  precise  knowledge  of  the  essentials  of  good 
tone.  So  far,  all  the  work  done  in  tones  has  been  ac- 
complished by  focusing  attention  on  the  nature  of  what  is 
being  expressed.  Even  in  singing  scales,  chord  passages, 
and  exercises  on  vowels,  where  the  aim  has  been  correct 
intervals  and  pure  vowel  tones,  the  expressive  purpose  of 
what  is  done  has  not  been  lost.  Scales,  chords,  and  vowels 
have  been  so  sung  that  they  would  be  significant — would 
have  a  meaning  in  them  because  of  the  pleasure  they 
awaken.  And  in  trying  to  make  them  significant,  the 
pupil  has  made  them  beautiful.  In  other  words,  all  the 
study  has  been  so  planned  that  the  child  should  not  lose 
the  connection  between  what  is  done  to  produce  good  tone, 
and  the  idea  or  reason  for  doing  it.  Consequently,  by  the 
time  he  reaches  the  fifth  grade,  he  possesses  fairly  well- 
established  habits  of  good  tone  production.  The  aim  of 
the  work  now  is  to  formulate  the  principles  that  underlie 
these  habits,  in  order  to  enable  him  to  act  with  greater 
certainty  and  surcness.  What  is  done  is  identical  with 
what  is  accomplished  in  language,  where,  after  habits  of 
correct  speaking  have  been  established,  not  by  rule  alone 
but  by  appeal  to  meaning,  the  pupil  takes  up,  in  the  latter 
part  of  his  school  days,  the  formal  study  of  the  principles 
of  good  usage  as  embodied  in  grammar. 


SPECIAL  WORK  OF  THE  FIFTH  YEAR  123 

So  with  regard  to  tone  production,  formal  rules  for  some 
of  the  steps  in  attaining  required  results  are  now  presented. 
Ever  since  entering  school  the  pupils  have  had  experience 
of  the  closeness  between  sitting  up  straight,  good  breath, 
and  tone  quality.  This  experience  is  formulated  as  the 
first  rule  for  good  singing,  i.  e.,  that  the  tone  is  controlled 
by  the  organs  with  which  we  breathe.  This  doesn't  mean 
that  we  fill  the  lungs,  then  tighten  up  the  throat  and  hold 
the  air  in,  much  as  the  small  boy  does  with  the  paper  bag 
he  bursts;  but  it  does  mean  that  the  tone  is  controlled  by 
the  muscles  about  the  chest,  ribs,  abdomen,  and  back,  no 
one  held  rigid  against  the  others,  but  all  in  control  and 
moving  together.  Whatever  is  done  consciously  to  produce 
good  tone  is  through  this  breath  control. 

The  second  principle  is  that  all  the  muscles  about  the 
throat  and  jaw  must  be  loose  and  flexible.  It  is  necessary 
to  state  this  rule  because  children  knowing  that  the  tone 
is  produced  in  the  throat,  will  probably  as  soon  as  they 
endeavor  to  get  good  tone,  unconsciously  make  effort  in 
th'e  throat;  this  effort  tightens  it,  thus  doing  much  mischief 
instead  of  good. 

The  third  principle  is  that  the  body  itself  is  the  in- 
strument that  sounds.  With  every  change  of  pitch  and  of 
vowel,  whenever  these  tones  are  well-made,  there  goes  on  a 
corresponding  change,  especially  in  the  head.  It  is  possible 
for  the  body  so  to  reenforce  and  develop  the  tone  started 
by  the  throat,  that  such  changes  become  practically  the 
chief  factors  in  tone  quality  and  color.  This  vibration 
indicates  a  harmony  between  what  starts  the  tone  and 


124  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

what  gives  it  character.  When  the  tone  is  felt  as  being 
entirely  in  the  throat,  without  the  accompaniment  of  this 
sympathetic  vibration,  especially  of  the  lips,  face,  and  nose, 
it  shows  that  part  of  the  organs  which  should  produce  the 
tone  are  not  at  work,  and  the  resulting  tone  will  be  hard 
and  coarse.  A  flabby,  devitalized  body  has  the  same  effect 
on  the  tone  quality  of  the  voice  as  the  loosening  of  the 
joints  would  have  on  the  tones  of  a  violin.  Hence,  it  is 
important  to  draw  attention  to  the  need  for  a  sympathetic 
vibration  of  the  body  with  the  tones  which  we  sing.  The 
formulation  of  these  three  principles  will  help  in  strengthen- 
ing the  good  habits  already  formed  and  will  keep  bad  ones 
from  being  developed. 

All  this  can  be  made  practical,  however,  only  when 
presented  by  good  example;  for  imitation,  after  all,  is  the 
main  thing  to  depend  upon.  At  the  same  time,  since  the 
pupils  have  had  experience  and  are  sufficiently  mature, 
it  is  necessary  to  arouse  a  mental  consciousness  of  the 
agents  employed  in  good  tone.  In  the  fifth  grade  the  chil- 
dren's voices  have  not  yet  begun  to  change  and  there  is 
still  time  enough  ahead  of  them  in  school  to  apply  the 
principles  taught.  They  have  had  four  years  of  practice 
to  supply  them  with  the  necessary  experience  upon  which 
to  base  this  technical  knowledge.  The  efficiency  of  many 
public  speakers  would  be  vastly  increased  if  only  good 
habits  of  tone  production  and  an  intelligent  comprehen- 
sion of  the  essentials  had  been  started  in  childhood.  Even 
if  the  early  application  had  not  accomplished  much,  these 
would  have  borne  fruit  in  maturer  years. 


SPECIAL  WORK  OF  THE  FIFTH  YEAR         125 

second  stage:  development  of  the  minor  modes 

Before  formulating  the  experience  which  the  pupils 
have  had  in  their  songs  with  reference  to  the  minor  mode, 
it  will  be  well  to  consider  the  problem  by  itself,  since 
among  teachers  there  is  considerable  divergence  of  practice. 
One  group  makes  tonality  the  central  thought.  To  them 
each  tonic  has  two  aspects  or  tonalities — the  major  and  the 
minor — and  the  nature  of  a  tonic  is  not  thoroughly  under- 
stood unless  these  two  tonalities  are  developed  together.  A 
second  group  of  teachers  emphasize  the  identity  of  the 
tones  employed  as  expressed  by  the  signature.  To  them 
every  key  signature  has  two  tonalities;  but  the  tonalities, 
instead  of  being  on  the  same  tonic  as  with  the  first  group, 
are  on  different  tonics,  a  minor  third  apart.  Those  who 
emphasize  the  unity  of  the  tonic  thought  would  naturally 
first  take  C  major  and  then  C  minor,  thus  changing  sig- 
natures, but  keeping  the  same  tonic.  Those  who  empha- 
size unity  because  of  the  identical  tones  employed,  put  their 
stress  on  identity  of  key  signature,  and  in  studying  C  major 
would  relate  A  minor  as  being  an  identical  group  of  tones, 
but  a  shifting  in  emphasis  taking  la  rather  than  doh  as 
tonic,  thus  producing  the  relative  minor  mode. 

In  the  plan  about  to  be  given  here,  I  have  followed  the 
second  procedure.  The  reason  for  this  lies  in  the  practice 
common  in  America  of  not  changing  the  key  names  in  the 
ordinary  modulations  that  occur:  for  instance,  in  going 
from  C  to  the  key  of  G  major,  G  F  sharp  will  not  be  sung  as 
a  new  doh,  li,  but  as  soh,  ji,  in  spite  of  the  decided  presence 


126  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

of  the  doh,  ti  feeling.  The  reason  for  this  practice  is  probably 
partly  in  the  nature  of  staff  notation,  and  partly  because 
the  new  key,  for  the  very  reason  that  we  expect  the  return 
of  the  opening  key,  is  not  so  completely  established  in  the 
mind  as  a  change  in  the  sound  names  would  imply.  In 
the  greater  number  of  modulatory  changes,  pupils  both 
young  and  old  prefer  to  struggle  on  through  a  modulation 
with  the  tones,  partly  contradicting  what  the  key  names 
suggest.  Thus  so  little  practice  in  changing  key  names 
is  obtained  that  wherever  the  change  would  be  easier,  it  is 
not  employed  for  lack  of  facility  to  do  it  readily.  For  this 
reason,  in  teaching  the  minor  mode,  as  well  as  the  related 
key  group  treated  in  the  fourth  stage  of  this  chapter,  the 
plan  has  been  to  awaken  a  consciousness  of  the  changed 
key  feeling  that  results  from  modulating  into  the  tonic 
dominant,  and  the  three  relative  minors,  while  continuing 
to  use  the  key  names  of  the  original  tonic.  Through  the 
frequency  with  which  these  related  keys  come,  the  pupils 
learn  to  adjust  themselves  to  the  modifications  that  the 
sound  names  of  the  original  tonic  undergo  from  the  pres- 
ence of  these  related  modulations.  Thus  the  key  names 
are  not  those  of  a  single  key,  but  those  of  the  tonic  of  the 
piece,  and  gradually  acquire  the  wider  significance  that 
the  modulations  introduce.  This  association  is  helped  by 
the  modified  names  that  are  introduced  for  the  tones  ac- 
tually changed  from  those  employed  in  connection  with 
the  original  key.  In  accordance  with  this  plan,  the  minor 
will  be  introduced  first  as  relative  minor,  where  no  change 
in  key  signature  is  required,  rather  than  as  tonic  minor, 


SPECIAL  WORK  OF  THE  FIFTH  YEAR        127 

where  an  unusual  change  in  key  signature  is  necessitated. 
When  we  consider  how  rarely  pieces  beginning  in  the 
minor  are  used  in  schools,  and  how  by  far  the  larger  part 
of  the  children's  experience  with  the  minor  up  to  this  time 
has  been  in  the  form  of  passing  from  a  major  tonic  to  its 
relative  minor,  the  treatment  of  the  relative  rather  than  the 
tonic  minor  seems  fairly  consistent  with  experience.  On 
the  other  hand,  to  start  out  with  a  minor  song  and  call  its 
tonic  la  when  no  relative  major  is  present,  seems  a  gross 
inconsistency,  for  the  excuse  of  identity  of  key  signature 
is  not  present.  In  dealing  with  such  a  song  as  The  Jolly 
Miller,  after  beginning  as  I  have  done  and  developing  the 
sense  of  the  new  tonic  feeling  on  G,  many  would  prefer, 
instead  of  keeping  the  relative  sound  names  of  the  major, 
to  call  the  new  tonic  doh  and  its  minor  third  mi.  This  would 
greatly  help  in  developing  the  true  quality  of  the  minor 
tonic,  but  for  a  successful  carrying  out,  it  would  necessitate 
that  the  same  practice  with  reference  to  a  tonic  minor  as 
is  given  to  the  tonic  major  be  carried  as  far  back  as  the 
second  grade,  when  the  nature  of  the  major  tonic  was  first 
established.  Since  little  opportunity  is  given  for  singing 
songs  which  commence  in  the  minor,  it  has  not  seemed  wise 
to  go  into  the  distinctions  necessary  for  presenting  this 
method  of  teaching  it,  however  valuable  it  might  be  from 
the  point  of  view  of  musicianship.  The  minor  as  here  pre- 
sented is  consistent  with  the  experience  of  the  pupils  with 
reference  both  to  tone  and  notation.  Its  inconsistency  lies 
only  in  singing  the  minor  tonic  to  la  and  in  the  changes 
hereby  involved. 


128  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

Turning  now  to  the  way  the  minor  thought  will  be  pre- 
sented to  the  pupils,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  they  have 
not  only  sung  many  minor  passages,  but  that  they  have 
had  an  occasional  song  which  began  and  ended  in  the  minor 
mode.  These  songs  have  been  learned  chiefly  by  rote  and 
the  minor  effects  have  been  observed  only  for  their  ex- 
pressive values,  without  any  attempt  at  explaining  how 
they  were  produced. 

Some  such  song  as  The  Jolly  Miller  is  now  placed  on  the 
board  and  the  children  notice  that,  although  the  signature 
indicates  the  key  of  B  flat,  the  doh  of  the  key  does  not  control 
the  tune  as  it  does  in  most  of  the  songs  they  have  sung. 
Owing  to  their  previous  experience  there  will  be  no  diffi- 
culty in  drawing  from  them  the  necessary  observations  that 
the  la  and  mi  of  this  tune  seem  to  be  the  important  tones 
corresponding  to  doh  and  soh  of  their  usual  experience. 
Other  minor  tunes  are  sung  in  other  keys  and  the  children 
make  their  first  generalization  that  the  signature  does 
not  always  tell  that  doh  and  soh  with  their  brilliant  qualities 
are  to  be  the  ruling  tones  of  the  key,  but  that  their  places 
can  be  taken  by  la  and  mi,  the  whole  group  being  thus 
given  a  darker  and  more  somber  effect.  Comparisons  of 
major  and  minor  tunes  are  made  by  singing  them  in  turn 
and  focusing  attention  on  these  two  groups  of  tones.  If 
the  teacher  is  wise  and  patient  she  will  be  able  to  lead  a 
large  majority  of  the  class  to  feel  that  the  la  and  mi  of  the 
minor  tunes  have  the  same  relationship  in  the  minor 
group  that  the  doh  and  soh  have  in  the  major. 

The  developing  of  the  feeling  for  the  minor  tonic  and 


i 


SPECIAL  WORK  OF  THE  FIFTH  YEAR 

THE  JOLLY  MILLER 
Poco  allegro 


129 


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1.  There  was  a     jol   -  ly    Mil  -  ler  once  lived 

2.  I      live  by  my  mill,  she     is       to    me     like 


-*— =*- 


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&& 


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> 


on        the    riv   -    er      Dee. 
par  -  ent,  child    and     wife. 


4EE£ 


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I   would  not  change  my 


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morn        till      night,      no        lark      more    blithe      than 
sta         -  tion        for        a  ny        oth  -  er    in 


(I 


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Music — 9 


13° 


EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 


-A--5S- 


he.   .  .         And   this    the  bur  ■  den    of      his  song  For 
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SPECIAL  WORK  OF  THE  FIFTH  YEAR         131 

the  recognition  of  its  tone  quality  are  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance, not  only  for  learning  the  minor,  but  also  for  a 
clearer  understanding  of  what  the  tonic  quality  really  is. 
When  this  has  been  thoroughly  felt,  the  reason  for  calling 
la  number  one  of  the  minor  key,  as  we  have  called  doh  num- 
ber one  of  the  major  key,  will  be  grasped,  as  will  the  con- 
sistency of  naming  the  minor  from  the  pitch  or  letter  name 
of  la  its  tonic.  The  children  will  now  see  that  The  Jolly 
Miller,  which  according  to  their  former  knowledge  seemed 
to  be  in  the  key  of  B  flat,  is  really  in  the  key  of  G  minor. 

Enough  minor  songs  may  be  given  the  children  to  show 
that  a  major  signature  can  represent  a  minor  key.  The  way 
in  which  the  same  signature  can  stand  for  both  major  and 
minor  tunes  can  be  well  illustrated  simply  by  transposing 
a  tune,  or  part  of  a  tune,  so  that  a  melody  which  began  on 
doh  shall  begin  on  la.  It  will  be  seen  that  while  such  a 
transposition  from  major  to  minor  does  not  alter  the  es- 
sential outline  of  a  tune,  yet  it  does  give  the  same  group  of 
tones  a  dark  instead  of  a  bright  aspect.  The  difference  is 
comparable  to  that  between  the  same  object  as  it  appears 
in  sunlight  and  in  shadow. 

The  essential  thing  for  the  pupil  to  bear  in  mind  is  that 
when,  on  beginning  to  sing  the  sound  names  from  the  sig- 
nature, as  has  been  his  custom,  he  finds  la  and  mi  the  prom- 
inent tones,  he  must  think  of  the  group  as  being  in  the 
minor.  He  must  give  to  these  tones  not  only  the  color  they 
have  had  in  the  major,  but,  more  important  still,  the 
added  qualities  that  their  position  as  first  and  fifth  (tonic 
and  dominant)  of  a  minor  key  demands.     He  will  have 


132  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

to  be  cautioned  that  hereafter  in  starting  keys,  he  must 
do  something  more  than  look  at  the  signature;  he  must 
also  look  at  the  music  and  see  whether  doh  or  la  is  the 
important  tone.  In  other  words,  he  must  imagine  how  the 
music  would  sound.  If  the  qualities  of  la  and  mi  are  pre- 
dominant, the  piece  is  in  the  minor  and  must  be  called 
after  the  pitch  name  of  la  rather  than  of  doh. 

After  the  qualities  of  the  la  and  mi  in  the  minor  have 
been  thus  observed  and  studied,  the  chromatic  tones  that 
so  often  occur  in  the  minor  can  be  observed.  For  example, 
just  before  la  in  a  minor  group  instead  of  soh  we  may  often 
have  soh  sharp,  which  we  sing  to  the  sound  name  si.  By 
their  previous  practice  the  children  are  able  to  sing  la,  soh, 
la  and  la,  si,  la  and  can  be  made  to  notice  that  changing 
the  soh  to  si  helps  to  give  la  its  important  position,  which 
makes  it  seem  like  the  tonic  of  the  key.  Taking  a  tune  in 
which  the  melodic  form  of  the  minor  occurs,  they  find 
that  ja  as  well  as  soh  is  often  changed,  especially  in  up- 
ward passages. 

When  all  this  observation  and  analysis  has  been  care- 
fully worked  out  from  the  songs,  the  work  requiring  a 
number  of  weeks,  the  children  are  ready  to  study  the  scale 
formation  of  the  minor.  They  will  have  no  difficulty  in 
singing  what  some  call  the  natural  minor  scale,  i.  e.,  the 
sound  names  just  as  they  occur  in  the  major  but  beginning 
and  ending  with  la.  We  take  this  series  first,  in  order  that 
the  relation  between  major  and  minor  keys  may  be  well 
illustrated.  The  fact  that  the  pupils  have  had  soh  sharped 
in  many  of  their  minor  songs  makes  them  see  the  necessity 


SPECIAL  WORK  OF  THE  FIFTH  YEAR        133 

for  a  scale  which  substitutes  si  for  soh.  In  order  to  sing 
this  effect  readily  it  would  be  well  to  practice  mi,  ja,  mi  and 
la,  si,  la  (above)  in  succession,  one  requiring  a  half  step  up 
and  the  other  a  half  step  down.  Then  mi,  ja,  la  or  la,  si, 
mi  can  be  sung,  and  finally  a  half  step  following  the  wide 
skip  may  be  introduced, — mi,  ja,  si,  la  and  la,  si,  ja,  mi. 


$ 


Mi^m-u^ 


Nothing  has  been  said  of  singing  the  augmented  second. 
Ability  to  sing  the  unfamiliar  intervals  lies  not  simply  in 
recognizing  the  nature  of  the  distance  between  them,  but 
in  feeling  their  relationship  to  the  strong  and  fundamental 
tones  between  which  they  occur.  After  singing  tunes  in 
which  the  melodic  form  of  the  minor  scale  occurs,  a  me- 
lodic scale  is  constructed  and  practiced.  If  pupils  have  dif- 
ficulty in  singing  the  mi,  ja,  si,  la  of  the  upper  passage,  it  can 
be  practiced  as  soh,  la,  ii,  doh  until  the  intervals  are  clearly 
in  mind,  the  return  group  being  sung  as  la,  soh,  ja,  mi. 
The  children  observe  how  this  series  both  resembles  and 
differs  from  natural  and  harmonic  forms  already  familiar. 

This  practice  in  constructing  and  singing  the  harmonic 
and  melodic  scales,  following  as  it  does  experience  in  sing- 
ing songs  based  on  the  keys,  makes  the  technical  knowledge 
thus  gained,  vital  and  of  real  value  in  musical  education. 
This  work  in  the  minor  mode  can  be  supplemented  by  the 
use  of  minor  phrases  in  a  way  similar  to  that  in  which 
major  phrases  were  used,  by  transposing  minor  phrases 
into  major,  and  vice  versa,  and  by  making  up  minor  songs. 


CHAPTER  Xm 

SPECIAL  WORK  OF  THE  SIXTH  YEAR.  CHORD 
AND  KEY  RELATIONSHIPS 

The  regular  work  of  the  sixth  year  continues  the  study 
of  sight  singing  introduced  in  the  fourth  and  developed 
in  the  fifth  year.  Starting  with  notation,  the  pupils  aim 
at  the  quick  recognition  of  short  musical  passages  accu- 
rately enough  to  sing  them  as  wholes,  not  spelling  note  by 
note,  but  reading  by  phrases.  The  sixth  year  closes  this 
second  phase,  already  mentioned  as  passing  from  sight  to 
sound,  and  brings  the  pupil  to  a  point  where  he  can  begin 
to  apply  the  power  gained  in  recognizing  musical  phrases, 
especially  those  for  instruments,  so  as  to  combine  them  in 
larger  forms.  In  considering  the  special  work  presented 
in  this  chapter,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  largest 
portion  of  the  time  should  still  be  given  to  the  regular 
training  in  sight  singing. 

first  stage:  observing  and  naming  chord  qualities 

Children  from  the  second  year  onward  have  practiced 
singing  along  chord  lines,  doh,  mi,  soh  or  fa,  la,  doh  for  in- 
stance, and  divisions  of  the  class  have  occasionally  sus- 
tained the  different  tones  of  the  chord,  an  excellent  tuning 

i34 


SPECIAL  WORK  OF  THE  SIXTH  YEAR        135 

exercise.  In  the  fourth  and  fifth  years  something  in  part 
work  was  attempted.  It  is  now  time  to  gather  up  this 
experience  and  organize  the  knowledge  of  tones  sounded 
simultaneously  in  chords,  thus  doing  for  the  chord  work 
what  the  formal  work  in  tone  and  in  the  minor  mode  has 
done  for  these  two  subjects. 

While  the  direct  relation  of  the  chord  work  to  the  pre- 
vious musical  experience  of  the  pupil  cannot  be  as  closely 
shown  as  in  the  previous  topics  mentioned,  the  practice 
in  singing  and  observing  chord  combination  as  an  inde- 
pendent exercise  is  of  special  value  in  quickening  the  mind 
to  tone  relationship.  Hence  its  indirect  advantage  to  mu- 
sical appreciation  is  great.  But  this  advantage  will  not 
be  realized  unless  the  teacher  so  conducts  the  work  that 
the  pupils  are  constantly  obliged  to  observe  and  describe 
what  they  individually  sing  in  relation  to  what  they  hear. 

The  work  is  commenced  by  dividing  the  class  into  three 
parts,  or  choirs,  without  any  reference  to  high  or  low  voices. 
The  first  step  is  the  study  of  the  triad  or  three-toned  chord 
in  its  root  or  A  position.  The  pitch  of  C  or  D  is  given,  and 
the  chord  of  doh,  mi,  soh  is  sung,  the  choirs  taking  turns 
in  singing  each  of  the  tones  of  the  chord.  After  the  pupils 
have  tried  the  chord  and  know  what  they  are  to  do,  they 
are  asked  to  observe  the  characteristics  of  each  of  the  tones 
as  they  sing  them:  the  ease  with  which  they  are  sung:  the 
quality  of  each  tone  which  stands  out  more  distinctly  be- 
cause of  the  relationship  to  the  other  two  tones:  and  to  tell 
for  which  one  of  the  three  tones  the  chord  should  be 
named.     This  work  will  reenforce  the  practice  that  the? 


13O  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

pupils  already  have  had  in  recognizing  the  character  and 
positions  of  the  tones  in  the  key.  In  fact,  singing  them  to- 
gether as  a  chord  makes  their  quality  more  distinct  than 
when  singing  them  in  succession  as  melody.  There  will  be 
no  difficulty  in  giving  positive  descriptions  as  to  the  char- 
acteristic effects  of  each  tone  in  the  chord,  and  the  pupils 
will  decide  that  doh  is  the  only  tone  after  which  the  com- 
bination or  chord  can  be  named. 

The  second  step  will  be  to  arrange  the  same  chord  in  the 
two  other  possible  positions,  that  of  mi,  soh,  doh  and  soli, 
doh,  mi,  the  problem  now  being  to  observe  and  describe  the 
new  effects  produced.  For,  while  the  same  tones  are  em- 
ployed, the  smooth  and  solid  character  of  the  first  arrange- 
ment has  given  way  to  one  less  so.  The  three  arrangements 
of  the  chord  are  now  named  A,  B,  and  C  positions  of  the 
doh  chord.  They  are  practiced,  compared  with  each  other, 
and  described. 

It  will  be  a  surprise  to  a  teacher  who  has  not  tried  this 
work  to  see  how  accurately  the  very  large  proportion  of  the 
class  can  describe  what  they  hear. 

The  third  step  is  to  combine  similar  chords  to  accompany 
this  (see  page  139,  Ex.  A,  I,  II,  III,  IV).  The  pupils  are 
told  that  it  would  be  no  more  than  common  sense  to  have 
one  tone  at  least  the  same  in  two  chords  if  they  are  to  sound 
connectedly.  When  people  wish  to  move  smoothly  they 
take  up  one  foot  at  a  time  and  take  short  steps,  and  so  if 
we  wish  to  go  to  another  chord  from  doh  it  would  be  best  at, 
least  to  hold  one  tone  and  let  the  other  two  go  to  the  near- 
est possible  position. 


SPECIAL  WORK  OF  THE  SIXTH  YEAR         137 

Starting  with  the  doh  chord  we  can  try  holding  doh  and 
moving  mi  and  soh  to  ja  and  la,  or  we  can  hold  soh  and 
move  doh  and  mi  to  ti  and  re.  These  are  the  only  two 
chords  that  can  be  formed  under  these  conditions.  Each 
of  them  is  now  studied  as  was  the  doh  chord  so  that  they  are 
practiced  in  different  positions  and  the  tone  after  which 
they  should  be  named  is  described.  They  are  then  prac- 
ticed in  succession,  the  teacher  calling  for  them  as  the  doh, 
ja,  doh,  soh,  doh  chords,  and  after  this  sequence  has  been 
learned  the  middle  doh  chord  can  be  omitted,  the  choirs 
passing  directly  from  the  ja  chord  to  the  soh  without  a  tone 
in  common.  This  sequence  should  be  practiced  starting 
with  the  doh  chord  first  in  its  A  position,  then  B  and  then  C. 
While  the  chord  succession  will  be  the  same,  the  positions 
in  which  the  chords  follow  each  other  will  be  different, 
obliging  the  student  constantly  to  think  not  only  of  the 
tone  that  is  common  to  the  chords,  but  of  the  nearest  tone 
that  they  should  sing  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  tone 
that  belongs  to  one  of  the  other  choirs.  While  this  work 
may  be  started  with  the  use  of  the  syllable  names,  as  soon 
as  the  tones  are  definitely  learned  the  syllable  names 
should  be  omitted,  and  the  various  vowel  tones  practiced. 
This  is  especially  necessary  in  studying  the  effects  of  the 
chord. 

The  exercises  can  be  varied  by  having  three  of  the  more 
musical  pupils  sing  the  chords  from  a  sequence  written 
for  them,  the  class  naming  from  hearing  the  chord  and  its 
position.  This  gives  opportunity  for  excellent  ear  practice, 
especially  for  classes  who  have  not  the  opportunity  of  hear- 


138  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

ing  a  piano.  The  sustained  way  in  which  the  tones  are 
sung  are  better  even  than  when  given  on  a  piano. 

The  fourth  step  is  the  practice  of  the  minor  chord  (see 
page  139,  Ex.  B,  I,  II,  III,  IV).  The  doh  chord  is  again 
taken  to  start  with,  but  instead  of  changing  both  of  the  up- 
per tones  only,  the  soh  is  changed  to  la,  resulting  in  the  doh, 
mi,  la  chord.  The  pupils  will  immediately  recognize  that 
this  resembles  in  quality  the  minor  scale  with  which  they 
are  familiar.  After  the  chord  has  been  practiced  in  three 
positions  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  seeing  that  it  should 
be  called  the  la  chord.  The  fact  that  this  chord  has  two 
tones  in  common  with  the  doh  chord  would  justify  its  being 
named  the  relative  minor  to  the  doh.  The  }a  and  soh  chords 
are  then  treated  in  the  same  way,  and  it  will  be  discovered 
that  each  has  a  similar  minor  chord,  one  on  the  second 
degree  of  the  scale  related  to  the  ja  chord,  and  one  on  the 
third  degree  related  to  the  soh  chord.  We  thus  have  six 
chords, — three  major  with  their  three  relative  minors. 

It  is  now  possible  to  make  long  dictations  combining 
all  six  chords.  Such  dictations  will  come  easily  if  they  are 
first  written  out  on  the  blackboard,  the  pupils  first  suggest- 
ing the  chords  that  will  follow  each  other  well,  such  sugges- 
tions being  tested  by  singing  and  comparison. 

By  starting  on  different  positions  of  the  doh  chord  a  large 
variety  of  movement  can  be  obtained.  By  writing  the 
chords  in  different  keys,  excellent  practice  is  obtained  in 
realizing  the  similarity  of  effect  in  different  presentations 
to  the  eye. 

The  fourth  step  is  to  practice  on  the  four-toned  chord 


SPECIAL  WORK  OF  THE  SIXTH  YEAR         139 

of  the  dominant  seventh  (see  page  140,  Ex.  D).  The  pupils 
will  have  'already  discovered  that  the  three-toned  chord  on 
the  seventh  degree  of  the  scale  sounds  different  from  both 
the  major  and  minor  chords  learned.  But  by  adding  soh 
to  the  three  a  very  interesting  and,  at  the  same  time,  com- 
monly used  chord  results.  In  order  to  practice  this  it  would 
be  necessary  to  double  one  of  the  tones  of  the  doh  chord. 
The  most  likely  one  for  such  a  purpose  would  be  the  tone 
that  gives  its  name  to  the  chord.  The  four-toned  chord  of 
soh,  ti,  re,  ja  is  then  practiced  in  the  position  of  re,  ja,  soh, 
ti  between  two  doh  chords. 

While  this  work  is  not  exhaustive  from  the  ftarmonic 
point  of  view,  it  is  sufficient  to  give  most  valuable  practice 
in  tone  hearing,  and  supplements  not  only  the  work  in 
part  singing,  but  develops  a  most  sensitive  feeling  for 
harmony,  making  a  deeper  appreciation  possible. 

ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  THE  FOREGOING  CHORD  EXPLANATIONS 
I  II  III  IV 


'-Q—~L-  J=xd — l-r-l— j — I — )— I-.-4-J     !     ! 


A     I.  Finding  ja  or  subdominant  chord. 
II.  Finding  soh  or  dominant  chord. 

III.  The  three  chords  in  combination. 

IV.  The  cadence,  leaving  out  the  middle  tonic  chord. 

II  III  IV 


140  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

B     I.  Finding  re  or  subdominant  minor  chord. 
II.  Finding  mi  or  dominant  minor  chord. 

III.  The  three  minor  chords  in  combination. 

IV.  Leaving  out  the  middle  minor  tonic. 
I  it 

K  ^  A 

C 


ujddEUm^^m 


C     I.  Showing  chords  studied  as  constituents  of  tonic  key. 
II.  Showing  chords  studied  as  tonics  in  related  keys. 

a,  d,  and  e — tonic,    subdominant,    and    dominant 
keys. 

b,  c,  and  f — minors  related  to  above  major  keys. 

D 


*w 


D        Showing  the  inclusion  of  soh  with  the  ti,  re,  )a  chord. 

SECOND  STAGE :    KEY  RELATION  THROUGH  SIGNATURE  * 

There  remains  but  one  more  technical  stage  to  be  pre- 
sented. We  have  had  in  the  fifth  year  work  the  technical 
aspects  of  tone  production,  the  minor  mode  and  its  re- 
sultant scales,  and  so  far  for  the  sixth  year,  chord  charac- 
teristics, both  in  themselves  and  in  their  relationships  to 
one  another. 

The  idea  of  the  key  group  is  the  last  of  the  technical 
subjects  which  need  be  attempted  in  this  phase  covered  by 
the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  years. 

*  See  discussion  introductory  to  second  stage  in  Chapter  XII. 


SPECIAL  WORK  OF  THE  SIXTH  YEAR         141 

The  principles  of  this  relationship  are  already  familiar. 
The  children  know  that  every  key  signature  stands  for  two 
keys,  one  a  major  or  doh,  one  a  minor  or  la.  The  keys  have 
also  been  introduced  as  soh  and  ja  keys  in  relation  to  a  doh 
key.  The  pupils  have  had  plenty  of  experience  in  the  rela- 
tion of  these  keys.  They  have  used  soh  as  a  new  doh  and 
then  changed  it  back  to  soh.  Still  oftener  the  sound  name 
has  remained  unchanged,  but  soh  has  taken  the  doh  feeling 
because  fi  has  been  sung  instead  of  ja,  showing  that  short 
change  has  been  made  to  the  key  of  soh.  The  aim  of  the 
work  now  is  to  gather  together  and  formulate  as  much  as 
has  been  experienced  in  key  changes.  For  this  purpose,  a 
large  number  of  familiar  songs  will  be  taken  and  the  keys 
to  which  they  change  marked  on  the  blackboard.  The 
children  discover  that  each  key  change  has  a  chromatic 
tone  that  serves  as  an  earmark  by  which  the  eye,  on  looking 
at  a  piece  of  music,  can  readily  tell  the  key  modifications 
that  occur.  It  should  be  noted  here  that  a  great  many  of 
the  chromatic  marks  which  occur  in  the  ordinary  music 
of  the  public  schools  only  suggest  a  possible  change.  They 
are  useful  in  helping  to  articulate  the  tune,  to  break  it  into 
parts.  These  changes  are  so  common  and  uniform  that 
to  understand  their  principle  helps  not  only  in  reading  but 
also  in  hearing  music. 

To  illustrate  the  two  ways  in  which  the  chromatic  tones 
are  introduced,  the  children  can  sing  The  Star  Spangled 
Banner.  They  will  notice  that  many  of  the  phrases  end 
on  the  chord  of  soh,  or  the  dominant,  and  that  some  of 
these  are  preceded  by  a  chord  having  a  sharped  four  in  it, 


142 


EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 


COLUMBIA,  THE  GEM  OF  THE  OCEAN 


i 


Spirited 


=£= 


«- 


4-tr 


W^ 


5fs 


^=^: 


*—-* 


i.  Oh,Co-lum  -  bia,  the  gem    of     the  o-cean, 

2.  When  war  winged  its  wide  des  -  o  -  la  -  tion, 

3.  The     star-spangled  ban-ner  bring  hither, 


§3feg^ 


i 


fry 

The"" 
And 
O'er  Co- 


4  r>v 


-*— *- 


t-n 


*=* 


^ 


£ 


S 


home      of     the 

threat  -  ened  the 

lum  -  bia's  true 


t  r 

brave  and  the       free ; 

land      to  de  -  form ; 

sons      let  it        wave; 


::P=^ 


£ 


The 
The 

May  the 


?^£ 


£^ 


fr*-»v 


i 


^ 


<       <:    t   j=t 


± 


-*  -*- 


shrine     of     each  pa  -  triot's  de   -    vo  -  tion, 
ark      then     of    free  -  dom's  foun  -  da  -  tion, 
wreaths  they  have  won      nev  -  er     with  -  er, 

-*-         -#-•     4-  &-B-         *-      £      -#-       ■*• 


-J u* V 


A 
Co     - 

Nor  its 

-*-     -P- 

-J 1— 


SPECIAL  WORK  OF  THE  SIXTH  YEAR 


J43 


* 


*=T 


%*-*- 


*— 


world       of  -  fers  hom 

lura    -    bia,  rode  safe 

stars      cease  to  shine 

-F- 


age 
thro' 


to  thee, 
the  storm: 
the    brave. 


0 • F F w 

thus  making  the  soh  chord  that  follows  it  in  strong  opposi- 
tion to  the  doh  chord  of  the  piece.  The  children  observe 
that  what  follows  is  in  the  original  key  and  that  what  has 
happened  has  served  merely  to  emphasize  the  separation  of 
the  phrases.  Now  Columbia,  the  Gem  of  the  Ocean  can  be 
sung,  and  it  is  found  that  in  this  also  the  fourth  of  the  key  is 
sharped  but  that  here  it  continues  through  the  passage. 
Hence  the  music  is  changed  to  this  key. 

After  singing  in  different  keys  a  large  number  of  ex- 
amples which  illustrate  the  sharping  of  the  fourth,  the 
children  realize  that  however  different  the  end  served,  the 
means  employed  is  the  same,  and,  moreover,  that  the 
change  is  one  of  the  most  common  in  music.  They  have 
also  noticed  that  when  the  return  is  made  after  singing  in 
the  key  of  soh,  the  sharped  four  of  the  old  key  that  became 
the  seven  of  the  new,  often  required  a  modifying  mark  such 
as  cancel  or  flat  to  show  this  return.  The  ear  always  feels 
the  difference,  but  very  often  the  context  is  so  clear  that 
the  change  is  not  represented  to  the  eye,  the  original  sig- 
nature being  sufficient.  This  is  true  of  the  return  in  Co- 
lumbia, the  Gem  oj  the  Ocean.     Furthermore,  illustrations 


144  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

should  be  given  of  the  fact  that  when  we  wish  to  return 
from  the  key  of  soh,  we  flat  the  seventh  of  this  key. 

A  tune  can  now  be  taken  in  which,  instead  of  first 
changing  to  the  key  of  soh  the  seventh  of  the  key  of  doh  is 
flatted;  and  the  children  discover  that  the  key  of  }a  has 
been  reached.  Thus  what  they  are  already  familiar  with 
as  a  change  from  the  dominant  to  the  tonic  is  applied  to  the 
change  from  the  tonic  to  the  subdominant,  a  transition 
which  occurs  much  less  frequently  (see  page  140,  C,  II, 
a,  d,  e). 

After  the  formulation  of  this  group  of  related  major  keys, 
the  next  step  is  to  study  the  relationship  to  a  central  tonic 
of  the  relative  minors,  i.  e.,  the  keys  that  have  the  same 
signatures  but  use  la  instead  of  doh  for  the  tonic.  From 
their  study  of  the  relative  minor  of  the  tonic  the  children 
already  know  the  principle  of  this  relationship.  It  is 
difficult  to  find  melodies  that  give  sufficient  illustration, 
but  examples  will  occur  in  the  three-part  music  which  is 
being  studied. 

It  can  now  be  shown  that  when  we  pass  from  the  key 
of  doh  to  the  key  of  its  dominant,  or  soh,  we  are  passing 
through  only  one  aspect  of  this  dominant  key,  that  is,  the 
major;  and  that  we  can  with  equal  consistency  go  to  the 
dark  key  for  the  same  signature,  that  is,  the  minor,  which 
has  the  same  relationship  to  soh  that  la  had  to  doh.  This 
would  be  the  minor  starting  on  mi,  the  third  of  the  scale. 
The  same  thing  would  hold  good  in  changing  from  the 
doh  to  the  fa  key.  Instead  of  taking  the  bright  aspect  of 
this  group  of  tones  we  can  take  the  dark  aspect  represented 


SPECIAL  WORK  OF  THE  SIXTH  YEAR        145 

by  its  relative  minor  commencing  on  re.  Thus  we  have 
minor  keys  on  the  third  and  second  of  the  scale  which  are 
related  to  doh  in  that  they  would  have  the  same  signature 
as  the  majors  soh  and  ja  (see  page  140,  C,  II,  b,  c,  f). 
The  formulating  of  these  key  relationships  is  especially 
valuable  because  while  they  all  follow  the  same  principle 
each  has  a  different  appearance  to  the  eye.  Sometimes 
cancels  instead  of  sharps  show  the  change  to  the  key  of  soh, 
and  similarly  they,  instead  of  flats,  show  the  change  to  the 
key  of  ja;  or  again,  double  sharps  or  flats  may  be  required. 
So  if  the  chromatic  tones  necessary  to  form  the  melodic 
and  harmonic  minors  for  the  three  relative  keys  were 
learned  in  reference  to  a  central  tonic,  many  a  passage  that 
seems  to  bristle  with  tonal  difficulties  would  be  recognized 
as  a  familiar  friend. 

The  point  of  all  this  work  is  the  study  of  key  changes 
in  relation  to  a  central  tonic.  Thus  we  have  a  group  of  six 
keys  represented  by  three  signatures,  one  of  which  is  that 
of  the  tonic,  one  that  of  the  dominant,  and  one  that  of  the 
subdominant.  When  we  change  to  the  dominant  and  sub- 
dominant,  or  the  soh  and  ja  keys,  the  signature  is  not 
changed;  only  the  chromatic  necessary  to  form  the  new 
seventh  or  fourth  is  written.  The  dark  aspect  of  the  major 
keys  gives  us  the  three  minor  keys,  one  on  la  related  to  doh, 
one  on  mi  related  to  soh,  one  on  re  related  to  ja,  so  that 
the  six  keys  have  all  to  be  learned  from  the  same  signature 
(see  page  140,  C,  II).  Each  of  these  minor  keys  requires 
an  additional  chromatic  tone  showing  that  it  is  the  dark 
and  not  the  bright  aspect  of  the  group.  This  tone  is  th* 
Music — 10 


146  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

seventh  of  each  minor,  that  is,  the  tone  below  la,  the  tonic. 
This  seventh  when  sung  with  the  sound  names  of  the 
original  tonic  will  require  soh  to  be  sung  as  si  indicating 
the  change  to  the  key  on  la;  re  to  be  sung  ri  for  the  change 
to  the  minor  key  on  mi  ;  and  doh  to  be  sung  as  di  for  the 
minor  key  on  re. 

Thus  the  chromatic  tones  are  introduced  as  indicat- 
ing a  group  of  six  keys,  all  related  to  the  central  tonic 
as  the  seven  tones  of  the  scale  are  related  to  the  tonic 
tone. 

This  study  might  be  continued  to  include  the  tonic 
minors  of  the  major  keys,  but  sufficient  work  is  given  here 
to  establish  the  principle  that  keys  are  related,  as  tones  are. 
In  fact,  it  might  be  enough  in  a  great  many  cases  to  go  no 
further  than  the  changes  to  the  dominant  and  relative 
minor.  None  of  this  technical  work  that  cannot  be  re- 
lated to  practical  musical  experience  should  be  done.  It 
can  be  justified  only  when  it  serves  to  formulate  practice. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

INTRODUCTORY  TO  SEVENTH  YEAR:  TWO 
REASONS  FOR  CHANGE  IN  CHARACTER 
OF  WORK 

The  work  of  the  seventh  year  will  be  better  understood, 
if,  before  describing  it,  we  compare  what  it  aims  to  ac- 
complish with  the  two  previous  aims,  the  one  extending 
through  the  work  of  the  first  three  years,  the  other  of  the 
next  three.  The  first  phase  begins  with  singing  songs  and 
ends  with  learning  notation.  This  is  brought  about  by 
observation,  acting  and  picturing,  which  accompany  the 
singing,  and  enable  the  pupil  to  learn  the  constitutive 
ideas  that  make  up  the  structure  of  the  song.  In  the  second 
phase  this  process  is  reversed.  The  pupils  start  with  the 
constitutive  ideas  suggested  by  the  notation,  and  unite 
these  in  order  to  form  concepts  of  the  motifs  and  phrases 
of  musical  passages.  The  ability  to  sing  these  is  the 
practical  test  of  accurate  conceptions. 

The  question  now  arises,  shall  this  grade  continue  the 
work  of  sight  singing  in  the  same  spirit  as  during  the 
second  phase,  or  are  there  reasons  for  a  change?  If  the 
nature  of  the  pupil  remained  the  same,  and  if  work  in 
sight  singing  included  all  that  pupils  should  know  about 

147 


148  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

music,  there  would  be  no  necessity  to  change.  But  both 
these  hypotheses  are  contrary  to  fact. 

The  adolescent  period  into  which  the  pupils  of  the 
seventh  and  eighth  years  are  entering  produces  self- 
consciousness  and  sensitiveness  as  to  the  opinions  of  the 
other  sex,  evident  in  dress  and  manner.  With  this  external 
change  there  is  more  profound  intellectual  and  spiritual 
change,  the  significance  of  which  is  clearly  brought  out  in 
Dr.  Hall's  Adolescence.  The  voices  of  the  girls  are  affected 
as  well  as  those  of  the  boys,  and  this  makes  it  wise  to  lessen 
rather  than  to  increase  the  use  of  the  voice,  especially 
since  its  exercise  gives  poor  results.  The  self-consciousness 
that  particularly  affects  boys  makes  vocal  utterance  a  dif- 
ficult and  hence  undesirable  form  of  self-expression.  Pu- 
pils at  this  period  feel  a  dislike  for  "stunt-doing"  acts, 
which  in  the  earlier  music  study  were  both  helpful  and 
enjoyable.  Furthermore,  they  demand  a  certain  spiritual 
content,  a  social  significance  in  what  is  done.  These  facts 
alone  would  justify  a  new  grouping  and  presentation  of 
study. 

But  there  is  still  the  second  reason  to  be  considered. 
Does  the  training  in  sight  singing  cover  all  that  the  general 
public  should  know  about  music  ?  The  pertinence  of  this 
question  will  not  be  felt  unless  we  bear  in  mind  that  the 
majority  of  our  citizens  end  their  school  work  with  the 
eighth  grade  or  its  equivalent.  The  tone  thinking  that 
sight  singing  demands  gives  the  most  intensive  car  training, 
and  hence  the  best  preparation  for  grasping  musical  ideas. 
Yet  the  interest  awakened  in  music  simply  on  its  vocal 


INTRODUCTORY  TO  SEVENTH  YEAR  149 

side,  and  the  musical  work  that  such  vocal  approach  makes 
possible,  do  not  supply  a  wide  enough  experience  to  enable 
the  student  to  apply  in  the  most  effective  manner  the  ability 
he  has  gained  in  this  way  to  the  musical  experience  of  his 
later  life.  The  modern  graduate  of  the  grammar  school 
when  he  enters  upon  life,  works  under  a  pressure  that 
leaves  little  vitality  for  either  spiritual  or  artistic  expression, 
and  those  forms  of  art  that  require  severe  concentration  and 
effort  are  left  more  and  more  to  those  persons  who  have 
special  talent  for  them.  The  desire  for  self-expression  is 
as  great  as  ever,  but  the  medium  through  which  it  acts 
must  hold  attention  without  too  severe  a  demand  on  vitality 
that  is  already  overtaxed  by  the  pressure  of  modern  life. 
Hence  the  general  experience  in  music  will  be  more  likely 
to  take  the  passive  form  of  listening  than  the  active  one 
of  solo  or  chorus  singing. 

The  truth  of  this  statement  will  be  appreciated  if  one 
will  only  stop  to  think  how  very  much  larger  is  the  number 
of  those  whose  musical  experience  comes  to  them  through 
the  work  of  others  than  of  those  who  make  their  own 
music.  In  fact,  of  the  latter  class,  the  technical  demand 
of  the  music  they  themselves  produce  may  so  absorb  their 
attention  that  they  are  oblivious  to  the  aesthetic  side;  so 
that  they  also  nourish  their  true  musical  life  through  what 
they  hear. 

If  now  we  ask  what  form  of  the  music  which  brings  us 
intimately  into  contact  with  the  great  masters  do  we  hear 
most,  one  must  admit  that  it  is  instrumental  music.  Apart 
from  what  is  heard  in  the  homes  (so  wonderfully  enlarged 


150  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

by  music  printed  on  rolls  and  disks),  we  have  the  music 
of  the  streets,  parks,  pleasure  resorts,  steamers,  hotels, 
restaurants,  and,  in  addition,  the  regular  concert  halls, 
all  ministering  very  largely  through  instrumental  forms. 
This,  after  all,  is  the  musical  opportunity  for  which  the 
public  schools  should  train.  For  whether  this  immense 
amount  of  music  shall  be  good  or  bad  depends  upon  what 
the  musical  intelligence  of  the  listener  demands.  The  pub- 
lic school  can  become  a  most  potent  factor  in  training 
this  intelligence. 

After  the  training  already  given,  it  only  remains  to 
apply  to  the  practical  sphere,  in  which  the  greater  part  of 
the  future  experience  of  the  pupils  will  lie,  that  intelligence 
and  sensitiveness  to  sound  which  sight  singing  has  awak- 
ened and  strengthened.  Such  is  the  aim  of  the  work  begin- 
ning with  the  seventh  year.  Starting  with  the  ability  the 
pupils  have  developed  for  conceiving  of  motives  and 
phrases,  the  teacher  shows  how  the  larger  vocal  and  instru- 
mental forms  are  developed  through  a  combination  of  these. 
The  school  should  furnish  the  opportunity  to  hear  instru- 
mental music,  and  it  should  definitely  organize  the  expe- 
rience given.  By  this  means,  the  pupil  is  enabled  to  enjoy 
music  that  would  otherwise  have  little  meaning  for  him. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  SEVENTH  YEAR 

FIRST  stage:  review 

As  the  majority  of  the  school  population  does  not  go 
beyond  the  grammar  grades,  it  is  essential  that  the  musical 
work  should  be  so  planned  that  it  should  not  be  dependent 
on  study  beyond  these  grades  for  results.  Hence  the  work 
of  the  third  phase  according  to  the  plan  presented  in  this 
book,  covering  the  seventh  and  eighth  years  of  school  life, 
is  designed  to  accomplish  two  main  results. 

The  first  of  these  is  to  review  and  solidify  the  musical 
knowledge  already  introduced;  and  the  second  is  to  widen 
the  scope  of  the  musical  work  so  that  some  interest  will  be 
awakened  in  instrumental  music  as  well  as  in  the  story 
and  form  of  music. 

The  review  work  docs  not  signify  that  exhaustive  re- 
views have  not  already  taken  place,  but  that  the  review 
itself  is  to  be  made  more  of  a  feature  and  presented  not 
so  much  in  the  form  in  which  the  work  was  originally 
given,  as  in  generalizations,  implying  that  the  principles 
are  fairly  well  in  mind,  and  putting  the  knowledge  into 
such  compact  shape  that  it  would  be  of  service  long  after 
much  that  was  learned  in  school  is  forgotten. 

15I 


152  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

The  review  for  the  seventh  grade  centers  about  the 
notation  for  rhythm  and  pitch.  The  first  will  be  best 
illustrated  by  the  following  table. 

Typical  movements  to  be  memorized. 

(a)  Simple  grouping,  with  the  quarter  as  unit. 

i.  Even  ratios      J J""H J"j  j"j     J  J  J 

3 

2.  Uneven  ratios  _J J^ J"""3    j      j-4     j-^  j 

(b)  Compound  grouping  with  the  dotted  quarter  as 

unit. 

1.  Even  ratios J_. JT3      /3  J1J3-JI 

2.  Uneven  ratios  ^  J    •j  J  JH  j-H  J     5 

•     ■    •      •  •  •   •         • 0—0—0—0 — # 0   0     imi 

It  will  be  seen  by  this  table  that  the  pulse  and  not  the 
measure  is  taken  as  the  unit  in  the  measurement  of  tonal 
duration.  It  is  quite  true  that  in  simple  music  moving  to 
single  pulse  tones,  the  measure  grouping  is  of  the  utmost 
importance  especially  to  an  unharmonized  melody;  the 
ordinary  melody,  however,  will  establish  its  own  pulse 
grouping  if  the  pulses  themselves  are  clearly  conceived 
and  produced.  By  bringing  the  compound  and  simple, 
the  even  and  uneven  pulses  into  juxtaposition,  the  whole 
table  is  easily  classified  and  remembered,  and  while  it  is 
not  by  any  means  an  exhaustive  treatment  of  pulse  types, 
it  is  fundamental,  and  students  who  have  mastered  it 
thoroughly,   easily  grasp  further  changes.     This  table 


THE  SEVENTH  YEAR  153 

should  be  put  on  the  blackboard  and  the  pupils  tested  by 
having  the  teacher  point  to  the  various  pulse  types,  while 
the  pupils  sing  them  in  monotone.  The  teacher  should  also 
sing  the  various  types  while  the  pupils  state  which  one  of 
the  tables  is  being  produced,  and  so  the  new  music  taken  up 
should  be  rapidly  analyzed,  at  least  the  first  few  meas- 
ures, into  the  pulse  types  employed,  until  the  importance  of 
thinking  by  pulses  is  thoroughly  reviewed  and  established. 

The  certainty  of  the  pulse  feeling  itself  can  be  easily 
tested  and  developed  by  the  practice  of  syncopation,  start- 
ing first  in  two-pulse  measure  and  having  the  syncopation 
last  from  the  last  half  of  the  first  through  the  second  half  of 
the  second  pulse,  when  the  pupil  can  feel  the  entrance  of  the 
weak  pulse  against  the  tone  that  continues  over  it.  The 
syncopation  can  be  changed  to  the  last  half  of  the  second 
pulse  over  the  first  half  of  the  first  pulse  of  the  next  meas- 
ure. Here  two  forms  of  syncopation  are  given:  the  first 
covering  the  entrance  of  the  weak  pulse,  and  the  second, 
that  of  the  strong  pulse.  Such  exercises  may  be  effectively 
introduced  in  scale  passages,  alternating  with  the  regular 
movement,  such  alternation  of  a  few  measures  of  synco- 
pated and  regular  time  making  the  work  more  effective 
than  where  the  syncopation  is  kept  up  too  long. 

With  this  practice  of  pulse  types  and  pulse  grouping  the 
various  forms  of  the  metrical  signatures  should  be  re- 
viewed; especially  those  decided  changes  in  appearance 
that  simple  time  so  often  takes  from  the  mere  fact  of  chang- 
ing the  pulse  unit  from  a  quarter  to  either  an  eighth  or  a 
half  note. 


154  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

Turning  now  to  the  work  that  centers  about  the  key 
signatures,  it  will  be  well  to  commence  this  review  by  sing- 
ing the  pitches  of  the  staff  as  represented  by  the  un- 
modified letters.  Excellent  practice  in  singing  whole  and 
half  steps  is  brought  about  by  singing  scale  passages, 
starting  on  all  the  letters  with  the  exception  of  C,  when 
the  fixed  condition  of  the  half  step  between  E  and  F,  and 
B  and  C  is  well  established.  The  scales  should  be  sung 
and  written,  starting  on  each  degree  of  the  staff.  For  in- 
stance, a  scale  calling  C  first  doh,  then  so h,  then  mi,  then 
la,  re,  Ja,  and  finally  ti.  This  would  require  that  between 
C  and  C"  the  scales  of  C,  F,  A  flat,  E  flat,  B  flat,  G  and  D 
flat  be  sung  and  written.  The  same  thing  should  be  done 
by  taking  D  and  thinking  of  that  as  each  of  the  seven  tones 
of  a  major  scale.  This  gives  an  exhaustive  review  of  the 
scales  and  the  exact  function  of  sharps  and  flats,  double 
sharps  and  double  flats  with  reference  to  the  staff.  In 
writing  these  scales  the  modifying  signs  should  be  written 
directly  before  the  note,  and  the  distance  measured  in 
major  and  minor  seconds;  and  afterwards,  for  practice  in 
writing  signatures  correctly,  the  resulting  signatures  should 
be  placed  at  the  beginning. 

The  second  most  important  practice  in  connection  with 
signatures  is  the  ability  to  place  rapidly  upon  the  staff 
when  the  key  is  given  the  repose  tones  of  the  scale  doh,  mi, 
and  soh,  with  the  doh  above  and  the  soh  below  this  group. 
This  can  be  made  very  intensive  speed  work  by  sending 
all  the  pupils  that  can  be  accommodated  to  the  board, 
having  them  draw  a  short  staff  and  place  the  clef  mark; 


THE  SEVENTH  YEAR  155 

then  stand  with  the  back  towards  the  board  and  have  the 
keys  assigned,  and  at  a  given  signal  have  the  students  turn 
about,  place  the  five  notes  according  to  the  key  required 
without  stopping  to  write  the  signatures,  and  then  turn  back 
again.  The  habit  should  be  developed  of  not  simply  think- 
ing where  doh  is  when  the  key  is  given,  but  where  the  en- 
tire seven  tones  would  be  placed.  These  are  easily  grouped 
if  they  are  thought  of  as  the  repose  tones  of  doh,  mi,  and 
soh,  as  the  sensitive  tones  of  ja  and  ti,  one  leading  up  to 
doh  and  the  other  down  to  mi  and  the  passing  tones  of  re 
and  la.  The  essential  thing  of  this  work  is,  however, 
grouping  the  five  repose  tones  doh,  mi,  and  soh  with  the 
doh  above  and  the  soh  below. 

So  much  for  review.  The  vexed  question  of  part  singing 
raises  a  difficult  problem.  There  is  no  doubt  that  singing 
in  harmony  is  one  of  the  best  musical  practices  that  the 
pupil  can  have,  and  that  the  result  when  well  done  gives 
greater  satisfaction  to  the  officers  and  friends  of  the  school. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  vocal  condition  in  which  seventh 
and  eighth  grade  pupils  find  themselves  is  the  least  favor- 
able for  such  practice,  and  a  great  part  of  the  harm  which 
singing  teachers  often  attribute  to  school  music  is  done 
in  injudicious  part  singing  for  immature  voices.  Unfortu- 
nately the  greatest  damage  is  done  to  the  best  singers,  who 
are  generally  given  the  lower  and  constrained  parts  be- 
cause they  are  more  musical  and  can  sing  them,  and  from 
this  very  fact  are  depended  upon  to  lead  the  others,  and 
unconsciously  force  their  voices.  The  question  of  part 
singing  might  be  looked  at  from  two  points  of  view.    The 


156  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

first,  that  in  which  independence  is  developed  by  having 
other  parts  moving  differently  from  the  one  the  pupil  is 
singing,  and  the  second,  the  development  of  feeling  for 
harmonic  progression.  If  these  two  are  treated  separately, 
more  effective  work  can  be  done  with  less  harm  to  the 
voices.  The  question  of  independence  with  reference  to 
the  part  one  is  singing  is  easily  developed  through  the 
round  and  canon.  This  does  not  oblige  any  voice  to 
remain  low,  and  thus  offers  all  the  freedom  of  unison 
work  and  at  the  same  time  develops  independence  of 
part. 

For  developing  harmonic  feeling,  simple  songs  should  be 
chosen,  where  the  harmony  moves  in  blocks,  the  low  voice 
taking  the  root,  or  a  tone  of  the  chord.  Opportunity  is 
thus  given  to  the  embryo  basses  to  take  their  tones  with 
a  fair  degree  of  certainty.  This  would  throw  out  much 
of  the  clever  counterpoint  that  one  sees  written  for  ad- 
vanced grades,  but  when  the  musical  capacity  of  the  pu- 
pils is  taken  into  consideration,  the  necessity  of  passing 
from  the  simple  to  the  complex  would  certainly  justify 
a  much  more  elementary  harmonic  treatment  for  the  first 
attempts  at  part  singing  than  is  ordinarily  offered  to  the 
seventh  and  eighth  grade  pupils.  If  this  work  is  sup- 
plemented with  the  singing  of  canons,  plenty  of  practice 
is  given  in  getting  independence  of  parts.  Such  simple 
treatment  of  harmonic  movement  is  not  only  valuable  for 
the  low  part,  but  quite  as  much  so  for  the  soprano  and 
alto  that  move  above  it,  for  it  is  unfortunate  to  set  pupils 
to  singing  parts  who  have  not  yet  developed  the  simple 


THE  SEVENTH  YEAR  157 

tonic-dominant  movement  that  lies  at  the  base  of  the  more 
developed  treatment. 

second  stage:  awakening  interest  in  instruments 

The  new  work  is  to  awaken  interest  in  musical  instru- 
ments. How  this  is  to  be  done  will  depend  much  on  the  op- 
portunities at  hand.  An  ordinary  whistle  is  sufficient  to  in- 
troduce the  principle  underlying  wind  instruments, — the 
flute,  piccolo,  pipe  organ,  and  others.  When  the  prin- 
ciple of  this  group  is  established,  i.  e.,  that  the  sound  is 
produced  by  the  blowing  of  the  wind  across  an  opening, 
the  second  division  of  wind  instruments  can  be  introduced 
by  means  of  the  cornet.  Pupils  notice  here  the  cup-shaped 
mouthpiece  and  discover  that  the  lips  of  the  player  must 
vibrate  in  this  cup  in  order  to  produce  the  tone.  Then  the 
whole  family  of  brass  instruments  can  be  studied  and  the 
fact  brought  out  that  the  tuba,  trombone,  horn,  and 
trumpet  all  employ  the  same  means.  After  this  group  the 
third  division  of  the  same  family  can  be  introduced, — that 
of  wood  instruments  such  as  the  clarionet  and  oboe.  The 
children  observe  that  here  the  wind  is  set  in  vibration  by  a 
reed  controlled  by  the  lips  of  the  player.  Another  class  of 
instruments  which  use  the  reed, — but  instead  of  control- 
ling it  by  the  lips,  allow  it  to  vibrate  freely  in  an  opening, — 
can  be  illustrated  by  the  cabinet  organ,  accordion,  or 
mouth  organ. 

The  second  great  family  of  instruments  is  the  string 
group.  The  violin  can  be  used  to  illustrate  the  large  divi- 
sion played  with  bows,  while  the  guitar,  mandolin,  and 


158  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

piano  exemplify  those  where  the  string  is  plucked  or  ex- 
cited by  a  plectrum  or  a  hammer.  Finally,  there  is  the 
third  great  family,  such  as  drums,  tambourines,  and  cym- 
bals, where  a  vibrating  surface  is  directly  excited  by  blows.* 

Since  the  object  of  this  work  is  to  awaken  interest  in 
music  through  instruments,  it  is  not  pursued  in  a  pro- 
fessional or  technical  way.  On  the  other  hand,  human 
interest  in  the  subject  should  be  stimulated  by  including 
as  much  of  their  history  and  their  place  in  literature  as 
time  will  permit.  Thus  some  of  the  pupils  may  prepare 
papers  on  primitive  music,  showing  how  drums  were  used; 
others  fresh  from  their  essays  on  Greek  life  will  describe 
the  pipe  of  Pan  and  the  lyre,  showing  their  relationship  to 
modern  instruments;  others  again,  the  shepherd's  pipe, 
the  hunter's  horn,  the  bugle  and  its  calls,  and  the  bagpipe 
with  its  drone ;  until  the  world-wide  interest  of  the  human 
race  in  music  is  recognized.  Much  of  this  literary  work 
can  be  done  in  connection  with  the  exercises  in  English 
and  composition  as  well  as  with  history. 

But  this  is  not  the  only  side.  The  seventh  and  eighth 
years  pay  much  attention  to  manual  training.  The  making 
of  simple  instruments  and  the  invention  of  apparatus  for 
illustrating  how  the  tones  arc  produced  will  fascinate  many 
an  ingenious  boy  whose  interest  in  music  hitherto  has  been 
none  too  strong.  In  like  manner  drawing  and  art  can  be 
made  to  contribute  their  quota  in  the  reproduction  of  the 
beautiful  forms  and  decorations  that  musical  instruments 
present. 

*  The  pupils,  as  far  as  possible,  should  hear  and  examine  instruments. 


THE  SEVENTH  YEAR  1 59 

Museums  are  rapidly  increasing  and  children  should  be 
directed  to  these  as  they  are  to  libraries.  Failing  such  aid, 
general  and  musical  encyclopedias  supply  more  material 
than  can  be  used.  The  musical  instrument  catalogues  of 
a  first  class  house  that  deals  in  orchestral  and  band  in- 
struments will  supply  fairly  satisfactory  pictures  of  the 
instruments  most  commonly  used;  these  could  be  cut  out 
and  pasted  on  cardboard  for  permanent  use. 

For  two  months  half  the  music  time  of  the  week  could 
well  be  devoted  to  this  sort  of  work,  in  the  course  of  which 
practical  hints  could  also  be  given  for  the  care  of  the  mu- 
sical instruments  generally  found  in  our  homes. 

A  second  feature  of  this  work  consists  in  drawing  at- 
tention to  those  instruments,  which,  though  less  used,  are 
at  the  same  time  important  for  instrumental  organizations. 
A  fraction  of  the  time  that  is  now  spent  in  trying  to  get 
the  technique  of  such  a  difficult  solo  instrument  as  the 
piano,  would  if  applied  to  band  and  orchestra  instruments, 
give  more  musical  results.  Much  of  our  musical  activity 
is  dissipated  because  almost  everybody  tries  to  master  the 
piano,  an  instrument  so  complete  that  it  does  not  readily 
lend  itself  to  organizations  of  players.  If  these  streams 
of  individual  effort  could  be  united  into  clubs,  small  bands, 
and  orchestras,  the  musical  life  of  our  country  would  be 
greatly  developed  and  enriched. 

The  public  school  wields  an  unparalleled  influence  in 
this  respect;  for  the  study  of  musical  instruments  gives  the 
opportunity  to  interest  the  pupil,  not  only  in  the  instru- 
ments themselves,  but  what  is  important  for  instruction,  in 


160  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

organizations,  to  which  these  naturally  lead,  such  as  the 
band  and  orchestra.  The  pupils  learn  that  these  are  not 
haphazard  combinations,  but  thoroughly  organized  bodies, 
each  class  of  instruments  having  a  specific  place  and  duty 
in  the  whole.  They  know  what  chords  and  melody  mean 
and  they  learn  to  see  how  the  different  instruments,  ac- 
cording to  their  nature,  take  up  the  parts;  they  learn  the 
bass,  tenor,  and  alto  groups  and  observe  that  certain  in- 
struments, owing  to  their  flexibility  and  beauty  of  tone, 
carry  the  lead,  or  melody. 

There  is  hardly  a  town  or  mining  camp  in  the  country 
that  has  not  its  band,  or  at  least  a  group  of  instrument 
players,  who  might  be  induced  to  give  a  concert  for  the 
pupils,  illustrating  to  both  eye  and  ear  this  grouping  of  in- 
struments. The  modern  school  sends  the  child  into  the 
park,  the  country,  the  factory,  and  the  shop  to  gain  knowl- 
edge by  first-hand  observation,  and  the  same  principle 
can  be  applied  to  music  work.  With  the  interest  now  de- 
veloped in  instruments  and  their  organization  the  pupils 
should  be  encouraged  to  go  to  good  concerts  or  wher- 
ever music  can  be  heard,  and  to  bring  back  definite  ob- 
servations of  effects  produced  and  means  employed. 
These  comments  should  not  be  in  the  form  of  haphazard 
criticism  or  rhapsody,  but  should  show  a  scholarly  in- 
telligence, even  though  this  is  still  limited  and  immature. 

THIRD   STAGE:   BAND  MUSIC 

We  have  seen  how  the  arousing  of  interest  in  instruments 
led  to  the  awakening  of  interest  in  musical  organizations. 


THE  SEVENTH  YEAR  161 

This  naturally  goes  on  to  the  present  stage,  the  music 
that  such  organizations  perform.  All  over  the  country 
bands  are  much  more  numerous  than  orchestras,  and  in 
band  music  the  dance  forms  predominate  very  largely. 
Since  these  forms  lend  themselves  to  observation  and 
awaken  a  more  immediate  interest,  they  should  be  studied 
first.  The  children  have  learned  to  listen  by  motif  and 
therefore  have  no  difficulty  in  tracing  the  occurrence  of 
similar  rhythms  and  the  reintroduction  of  similar  melodies 
after  contrasting  ones. 

After  observations  have  been  gathered  concerning  the 
nature  of  what  they  have  heard,  the  study  of  the  dance 
form  will  be  systematically  commenced  with  the  aid  of  the 
school  piano.  Often  among  the  pupils  themselves  some 
will  be  found  who  are  capable  of  playing  the  illustrations. 
It  certainly  would  not  be  difficult  to  persuade  musical 
friends,  or  even  piano  teachers  who  are  interested  in  being 
known  as  players,  to  give  illustrations.  The  modern  at- 
tachments for  playing  pianos  make  possible  the  giving  of 
excellent  illustrations  by  those  who  do  not  themselves 
play.  If  it  happens  that  the  school  has  no  piano,  a  few 
musicales  can  be  planned  at  different  homes. 

Attention  will  be  directed  first  to  the  way  in  which  dance 
music  consists  of  parts  related  to  each  other.  If  a  wide- 
awake physical  training  teacher  is  connected  with  the 
school,  her  sendees  can  be  enlisted  in  showing  how  this 
articulation  of  the  music  grows  out  of  the  dance.  It  will 
be  found  that  the  means  employed,  or  cadences,  can  be 
grouped.    Some  seem  to  be  final,  others  only  partial.    In 

Music — ii 


1 62  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

noting  how  this  is  accomplished  by  means  of  chords  and 
their  arrangement,  excellent  opportunity  is  given  for  re- 
viewing previous  chord  work  and  for  learning  how  cadences 
may  be  formed  and  infinitely  varied.  The  development  of 
sensitiveness  to  the  shades  of  difference  which  mark  the 
division  between  motifs,  phrases,  sections,  and  periods, 
increases  intelligent  comprehension  of  music  in  the  same 
way  that  attention  to  punctuation  promotes  an  under- 
standing of  language. 

After  the  pupils  have  observed  that  dance  music  breaks 
up  into  symmetrical  parts,  it  is  not  difficult  to  go  a  step 
further  and  show  that  these  parts  are  dominated  by  cer- 
tain rhythms  producing  forms  like  the  polonaise  and  polka, 
tarantella  and  galop,  waltz  and  march.  The  pupils  now 
discover  that  these  forms  are  types  of  movement  and  soon 
learn  to  recognize  them.  These  types,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  instruments,  can  be  associated  with  their  historic  origin. 
Here,  again,  literature  and  art  enrich  and  widen  the  mu- 
sical interest  and  awaken  a  deeper  pleasure  than  the  mere 
sensuous  reaction  to  a  waltz  or  march  could  ever  do. 

This  approach  through  the  dance  makes  it  possible  to 
induce  interest  in  the  form  without  having  the  study  be- 
come a  lifeless  intellectualism  leading  either  to  disgust  or 
priggishness,  for  seventh  grade  children  readily  respond 
emotionally  to  the  minuet  or  waltz.  They  enjoy  it;  it  ex- 
presses them :  and  the  intelligence  awakened  in  connection 
with  it  purifies  and  strengthens  their  interest  and  prepares 
at  the  same  time  a  starting  point  toward  more  complex  and 
artistic  forms.     The  Invitation  to  the  Dance  used  as  an 


THE  SEVENTH  YEAR  163 

approach  to  the  overture  of  Der  Freischutz  is  a  better  ar- 
rangement than  the  reverse  order  would  be. 

While  the  suggestion  made  here  is  to  pass  from  in- 
struments to  music,  it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that 
this  is  the  best  order  in  all  cases.  The  fundamental  idea 
is  to  pass  from  experience  to  knowledge, — to  make  knowl- 
edge the  organization  of  experience.  That  order  which 
will  supply  this  experience  in  its  most  vivid  and  interest- 
ing way  for  the  conditions  of  the  given  locality  is  the  best 
one  to  follow,  even  if  the  logical  development  of  the  sub- 
ject itself  may  not  be  so  well  served. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

INTRODUCTORY  TO  THE  EIGHTH  YEAR 
WORK:   REPETITION  IN  ART 

By  the  time  the  pupil  has  reached  the  eighth  year,  we 
are  ready  to  apply  his  already  awakened  interest  in  mu- 
sical form  to  those  examples  in  which  the  masterpieces  of 
music  have  been  revealed,  and  also  to  arouse  his  sympathies 
by  an  acquaintance  with  the  composers  themselves  and  the 
times  in  which  they  lived. 

Though  this  work  naturally  falls  in  the  eighth  year  it 
does  not  follow  that  it  can  be  completed  there.  Only  the 
beginning  of  it  can  be  attempted  in  one  year.  Not  only 
this,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  approximately  half  the 
time  of  the  eighth  year  will  be  devoted  to  singing.  The 
closing  exercises,  as  well  as  many  other  school  occasions, 
require  special  music  and  the  duty  of  furnishing  this 
generally  falls  to  the  upper  classes.  These  are  excellent 
opportunities  for  putting  to  practical  use  the  pupil's  mu- 
sical ability.  The  teacher  should  take  pains  to  have  the 
selections  well  chosen,  and  should  approach  their  study 
through  the  observation  of  structural  and  interpretative 
ideas.  Moreover,  attention  should  be  given  to  the  cir- 
cumstance under  which  the  pieces  were  composed,  as  well 

164 


INTRODUCTORY  TO  EIGHTH  YEAR  165 

as  to  the  period  and  the  composer.  Thus  the  pupil  can  be 
made  acquainted  with  many  beautiful  gems  from  the  litera- 
ture of  music  in  such  a  way  that  they  become  part  of  his 
artistic  preparation  for  life,  enabling  him  to  drink  deep 
of  refreshment  as  invigorating  and  inexhaustible  as  the 
springs  in  a  mountain  valley. 

Since,  as  we  have  already  said,  the  pupil's  musical 
experience  after  he  leaves  school  will  be  largely  in  the 
realm  of  hearing  instrumental  music,  the  preparation  for 
this,  already  begun  in  the  seventh  year,  should  be  con- 
tinued. Let  us  see  what  this  preparation  has  been.  First, 
his  musical  interests  have  been  broadened  through  an 
acquaintance  with  the  structure  and  history  of  instru- 
ments. This  has  led  to  an  interest  in  musical  organizations, 
and  this  in  turn  to  the  music  performed.  As  this  music 
was  chiefly  limited  to  dance  forms,  the  observations  made 
were  largely  connected  with  its  rather  rhythmical  ideas. 
Pupils  have  become  aware  of  the  symmetry  of  these  mu- 
sical designs  growing  out  of  their  origin  in  the  dance. 
Their  observation  has  been  carefully  directed  to  the 
means  of  articulating  the  music.  This  has  led  to  the 
quickening  of  the  feeling  for  cadences,  which  were  ex- 
plained descriptively  rather  than  technically.  These  ob- 
servations, together  with  the  earlier  practice  of  singing  by 
phrase  give  the  basis  for  the  new  work  about  to  be  pre- 
sented. Starting  with  that  which  not  only  awakens  in- 
terest most  strongly,  but  also  connects  most  closely  with 
experience,  we  have  led  the  pupils  to  the  technical  means 
employed  to  produce  this  experience,  and  we  gradually 


166  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

reach  those  forms  of  music  the  comprehension  of  which 
adds  much  to  musical  enjoyment. 

The  plan  for  the  observation  of  pure  design  in  music 
has  been  developed  in  connection  with  work  done  by  High 
School  students.  But  its  commencement  with  the  last 
year  of  the  grammar  school  is  suggested  for  children  whose 
school  life  goes  no  further.  Even  eight  periods  during  the 
year  devoted  to  the  work  proposed  in  the  following  para- 
graphs would  prove  of  immense  practical  value  to  such 
children.  A  lesson  once  in  two  weeks  would  be  much  more 
effective,  while  a  lesson  once  a  week  would  give  all  the  time 
necessary  to  accomplish  what  we  intend  in  the  work  as 
sketched.  It  is  not  expected  that  the  pupil  will  be  able  to 
comprehend  the  full  meaning  of  large  forms  represented 
by  fugues  and  sonatas,  since  at  this  age  he  possesses  neither 
the  intellectual  nor  the  emotional  capacity.  But  just  as  a 
child  learns  much  in  his  geography,  which  becomes  fully 
significant  only  after  years  of  travel,  so  in  music  by  drawing 
attention  to  the  effects  of  fugues  and  sonatas  and  the  way 
they  are  formed,  by  giving  practice  in  intensive  listening  and 
awakening  human  interest  through  the  stories  connected 
with  their  origin,  the  times,  and  the  composers  that  pro- 
duced them, — in  all  these  ways  are  planted  the  seeds  which 
will  bear  fruit  whenever  favorable  opportunity  is  given. 

In  teaching  musical  design,  the  pupils'  experience  of 
design  in  manual  training  and  art  work  may  be  made  use 
of.  This  helps  in  a  measure  their  lack  of  a  larger  musical 
experience.  Since  such  a  treatment  is  rather  unusual,  the 
principles  will  first  be  presented  by  themselves. 


INTRODUCTORY  TO  EIGHTH  YEAR  167 

The  tendency  to  repeat  is  strikingly  noticeable  in  all 
the  arte  that  seek  to  express  beauty.  By  this  means  unity 
is  given  to  a  work;  yet  mere  unity  is  not  beautiful.  Its 
value  consists  in  enabling  us  to  organize  the  forms  of  art, 
and  consequently  the  impressions  they  produce,  thus 
making  possible  the  accumulation  of  effects  necessary  for 
the  deep  and  lasting  feeling  of  pleasure  which  the  beautiful 
awakens. 

The  importance  of  this  principle  of  repetition  is  very 
great  in  those  arts  that  are  free  to  develop  their  own  forms; 
as  long  as  they  can  give  the  impression  of  the  unity  of  the 
whole,  they  can  take  any  shape  the  fancy  wishes.  Among 
these  arts  are  music,  architecture,  and  a  large  class  of  the 
arts  of  design,  such  as  deal  with  surface  decoration.  In 
contrast  stand  the  arts  of  painting  and  sculpture;  these 
have  to  develop  the  unity  of  their  work  largely  through 
choice  and  arrangement  of  forms  already  related  by 
nature. 

In  those  arts  where  repetition  is  absolutely  essential 
for  attaining  unity,  two  classes  result  from  the  way  it  is 
used.  In  the  first  of  these,  the  unity  attained  resembles 
that  developed  through  continuity,  the  same  motif  or  form 
being  present  in  more  or  less  altered  forms.  This  class, 
involving  more  or  less  constant  repetition,  is  one  in  which 
much  of  the  primitive  art  of  the  world  is  expressed.  Stone- 
henge  with  its  rows  of  huge  stones;  the  arts  of  Egypt 
and  Asia  with  their  constant  recurrence  of  such  large 
masses  as  pillars,  gates,  and  sphinxes;  decorations  on  gar- 
ments and  utensils  where  a  simple  figure  appears  over  and 


1 68  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

over;  and  in  music,  the  endless  reiteration  of  some  minor 
phrase  in  which  the  Indians  and  Orientals  seem  to  de- 
light;— all  these  indicate  the  symmetry  of  the  whole  is 
little  thought  of,  but  that  attention  is  given  simply  to  the 
accumulation  of  effects  from  moment  to  moment,  suffi- 
ciently gathered  up  by  their  resemblance  to  each  other. 

In  the  second  class,  the  same  continuity  is  present,  but 
through  greater  skill  in  the  control  of  the  material  a  higher 
unity  is  made  possible  by  consideration  for  both  symmetry 
and  principality.  The  builder  of  the  Parthenon  was  not 
content  with  the  simple  continuity  brought  about  by  rep- 
resentation of  details,  but  he  so  planned  his  work  that 
the  structure  as  a  whole  expressed  a  higher  unity  through 
its  symmetry.  The  capitol  at  Washington  goes  a  step 
further  in  organization,  in  that  its  large  masses  are  con- 
nected by  means  of  the  idea  of  principality;  for  the  huge 
dome  at  the  center  unites  its  wings  in  one  whole. 

The  difference  between  these  two  classes  is  illustrated 
in  the  way  such  buildings  are  approached.  The  architects 
of  Gothic  cathedrals,  Egyptian  and  Oriental  temples,  in 
which  the  continuity  idea  was  uppermost,  laid  little  stress 
upon  the  point  of  view  from  which  the  whole  should  be 
seen.  Houses  of  the  city  crowd  about  a  Gothic  cathedral, 
walls  and  gardens  hide  the  temples;  they  are  not  primarily 
intended  to  be  viewed  as  wholes.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Parthenon,  the  capitol  at  Washington,  and  the  Taj  Mehal, 
all  are  meant  to  be  regarded  in  the  large  as  well  as  in  detail. 
Their  attainment  of  this  higher  unity  implies  a  greater 
skill  and  maturity  of  their  builders. 


INTRODUCTORY  TO  EIGHTH  YEAR  169 

So  in  music  these  two  classes  of  repetition  are  present; 
that  where  continuity  is  uppermost  took  its  rise  in  the 
ecclesiastical  music,  while  the  feeling  for  symmetry  con- 
nected itself  with  the  folk  music  and  dance.  Each  had 
its  peculiar  problem.  The  church  musician  could  spin 
tone  webs  indefinitely,  but  found  difficulty  in  organizing  his 
material,  so  as  to  bring  about  that  unity  which  results 
from  symmetry  and  principality.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
the  spontaneous  song  and  dance  of  the  people,  there  were 
perfect  examples  of  symmetry,  but  there  was  no  way  of 
massing  these  effects  into  larger  wholes.  These  two  classes, 
however,  developed  side  by  side,  each  influencing  the 
other.  The  first,  under  the  general  term  polyphonic  music, 
achieved  its  continuity  of  effect  by  the  recurrence  in  the 
various  voices  of  similar  motifs  or  phrases.  The  second, 
sometimes  called  homo  phonic,  aimed  at  repeating  large 
portions  separated  by  contrasting  parts,  thus  giving  to 
the  whole  an  organic  unity,  a  feeling  of  symmetry,  as 
far  as  this  is  possible  in  music.  In  many  of  the  Handel 
choruses  we  have  in  the  polyphonic  treatment  with  the 
emphasized  chords  at  the  close  what  corresponds  to  the 
Cologne  cathedral  with  its  mighty  towers  at  its  western  end; 
while  in  the  movements  of  the  sonatas  of  Haydn  and  the 
simpler  ones  of  Beethoven  there  is  a  more  distinct  feeling 
of  symmetry  and  proportion.  Yet  it  is  interesting  to  note 
that  in  the  culmination  of  both  of  these  types,  the  more 
formal  symmetry  of  the  earlier  Beethoven  sonatas  disap- 
pears in  a  deeper  thought  unity,  and  in  the  great  fugues 
of  Bach  the  apparent  principle  of  continuity  is  so  deftly 


170  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

controlled  that  the  work  presents  the  large  proportions 
of  beginning,  middle,  and  end,  characteristic  of  works 
of  symmetry. 

To  sum  up  and  show  the  application  of  what  has  been 
said  with  reference  to  design:  attention  has  been  drawn 
to  the  importance  of  repetition,  by  showing  its  use  in 
other  arts  besides  music;  the  observation  of  repetition  has 
brought  out  the  distinction  that  enables  us  to  divide  art 
products  into  two  large  classes.  In  the  first  of  these,  con- 
tinuity is  given  by  the  repetition  of  a  few  simple  motifs 
with  more  or  less  variation  constantly  appearing.  In  the 
second,  a  feeling  for  symmetry  and  principality  results 
in  modifications  for  the  sake  of  the  whole,  and  in  the  repe- 
tition of  large  portions  varied  by  a  contrasting  element. 

The  reason  for  dwelling  so  largely  on  the  expression 
of  these  principles  in  arts  other  than  music  is  that  in  the 
space  arts,  the  way  repetition  is  employed  is  more  easily 
studied  and  can  be  made  clearer  to  the  mind,  than  in  music, 
where  design  must  be  heard  instead  of  visualized.  When 
the  universal  value  of  this  principle  for  all  art  is  once  felt, 
its  application  to  music  greatly  assists  in  comprehending 
the  various  forms.  It  has  the  further  advantage  of  show- 
ing that  music  instead  of  making  its  object  the  attainment 
of  a  formless  feeling,  really  gains  definite  results  by  as 
rigid  an  adherence  to  principles  of  structure  as  does  ar- 
chitecture. 

In  applying  this  work  to  students  as  young  as  those 
of  the  eighth  year,  the  use  of  design  in  the  other  arts,  es- 
pecially to  illustrate  the  principle  of  repetition,  is  expected 


INTRODUCTORY   TO  EIGHTH   YEAR  171 

to  accomplish  nothing  more  than  to  start  them  listening 
intensively  to  what  they  hear.  It  will  be  noticed  that  this 
comprehensive  view  of  form  is  presented  before  the  work  is 
given  for  intensive  listening  to  the  musical  sentence  itself. 
The  purpose  is  to  follow  the  principle  so  often  emphasized 
in  this  book, — the  passing  from  the  larger,  the  more  ob- 
vious, the  more  superficial  expression  of  the  subject  to  a 
closer,  a  more  minute,  and  more  vital  study.  For  the 
same  reason,  the  study  in  relation  to  text  precedes  the 
work  given  for  the  general  observation  of  form.  In  no 
case  is  this  attention  to  form  to  be  thought  of  as  a  study 
of  the  subject  itself,  so  often  attempted  in  appreciation 
classes.  Such  work  would  be  inappropriate  for  pupils 
at  this  age. 


CHAPTER  XVn 
THE  EIGHTH  YEAR 

FIRST  stage:  review 

The  review  work  of  the  eighth  year  continues  in  the 
same  spirit  as  that  of  the  seventh.  The  essentials  of 
the  previous  year  should  be  gone  over,  the  knowledge  of 
the  thirty  major  and  minor  keys  should  be  grouped  into  a 
complete  table.  The  pupils  should  observe  that  there  are 
but  seven  different  degrees  on  the  staff.  Taking  the  series 
from  C  to  B  inclusively,  the  letter  F  divides  it  squarely  in 
two.  This  is  the  only  key  starting  on  an  unmodified  letter 
that  has  a  flat  in  its  signature.  Below  this,  C,  D,  and  E 
stand  for  no  sharps,  two  sharps,  and  four  sharps.  Above, 
F,  G,  A,  and  B  stand  for  one  sharp,  three  sharps,  and  five 
sharps.  The  letter  F  with  one  flat  for  its  signature  divides 
the  sharp  keys  into  two  groups,  naught  and  even  on  one 
side,  odd  on  the  other.  From  these  we  can  get  all  the  other 
signatures  by  remembering  that  all  that  we  need  to  do  is 
to  subtract  the  signature  given  from  seven  and  we  will  get 
the  one  sought.  For  instance,  the  key  of  F,  one  flat,  by 
subtracting  one  from  seven  we  get  the  key  of  six  sharps 
or  the  key  of  F  sharp.  If  the  four  sharps  of  the  key  of  E 
are  subtracted  from  seven,  the  remainder,  three,  will  give 

172 


THE  EIGHTH  YEAR  173 

the  signature  of  three  flats  for  the  same  letter.  Thus  each 
letter  of  the  staff  stands  for  two  keys,  one  the  letter  by  it- 
self, the  other  modified  by  a  flat  or  a  sharp,  and  whichever 
is  given  the  opposite  can  be  discovered  by  the  simple  rule 
of  subtracting  this  from  seven.  The  letter  C,  however,  as 
it  has  no  sharps  or  flats  can  have  either  seven  sharps  or 
seven  flats.  That  is,  we  can  subtract  the  entire  group  of 
sharps  or  flats  and  so  get  its  opposite. 

Thus  the  letter  C  gives  us  three  keys  and  the  remaining 
six  letters  two  each,  resulting  in  fifteen  key  signatures.  If 
we  now  bear  in  mind  that  each  signature  has  both  a  bright 
and  dark  aspect,  the  dark  taking  its  name  from  the  color 
which  predominates  it,  this  being  la  or  the  third  below  the 
tonic  of  the  major,  we  shall  add  fifteen  minor  keys  to  the 
same  signatures,  resulting  in  a  group  of  thirty. 

Following  this  review  of  the  key  signatures,  there  should 
come  practice  in  recognizing  the  chromatic  tones  that 
suggest  the  modulation  into  the  five  relative  keys;  sharping 
four  for  the  dominant,  flatting  seven  for  the  subdominant, 
sharping  five  for  the  relative  minor  of  the  tonic,  sharping 
the  second  for  the  relative  minor  of  the  dominant,  sharping 
one  for  the  relative  minor  of  the  subdominant.  It  will  be 
seen  that  if  these  numbers  are  given  from  the  basis  of  the 
original  tonic,  the  ordinary  transitory  modulation  will  thus 
appear.  Where  the  change  is  extensive,  the  chromatics 
necessary  for  indicating  the  dominant  and  subdominant 
signatures  in  connection  with  their  relative  minors  will  be 
necessary,  as  will  also  the  changes  for  producing  the  me- 
lodic forms  of  the  minor  scale. 


174  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

With  the  work  previously  done  in  the  introduction  of 
keys,  this  review  can  be  easily  covered.  These  chromatic 
tones  can  be  practiced  as  passing  tones  by  prolonging  the 
diatonic  tones.  We  thus  have  a  chromatic  scale  introduced 
with  a  definite  key  feeling.  When  this  can  be  sung  truly 
instead  of  prolonging  each  of  the  diatonic  tones,  each  oi 
the  tones  of  the  tonic  chord  should  be  prolonged;  that  is, 
dohy  mi  and  soh,  while  the  minor  seconds  between  them 
should  be  sung  rapidly  and  lightly  so  that  the  key  feeling 
may  be  constantly  present.  Finally,  when  this  is  done 
with  certainty,  the  attempt  of  running  the  entire  chromatic 
scale  smoothly  and  evenly  from  a  note  to  its  octave  may  be 
attempted,  but  even  then  it  should  be  thought  of  as  in 
some  key. 

A  new  key  relationship  can  be  practiced  by  changing 
from  the  tonic  major  to  the  tonic  minor.  This  will  be 
best  accomplished  without  the  use  of  the  sound  names. 
The  practice  of  noticing  that  the  same  tonic  will  generate 
a  bright  as  well  as  a  dark  key  feeling  is  an  excellent  ex- 
pansion of  a  true  appreciation  of  the  full  character  of  the 
tonic. 

The  cadences  practiced  in  connection  with  the  chord 
work  in  the  sixth  grade  can  now  be  practiced  with  the  bass 
voices  taking  a  low  part,  observing  the  effect  of  complete 
and  partial  cadences.  With  the  preceding  practice  of  the 
tonic  minor  the  cadences  could  be  taken  in  minor  as  well 
as  major.  What  was  said  of  part  singing  for  the  seventh 
grade  is  even  more  applicable  to  the  eighth  grade  as  far 
as  condition  of  voice  goes.    On  the  other  hand,  those  who 


THE  EIGHTH  YEAR  175 

are  able  to  sing  have  better  command  of  their  voices,  and 
by  singing  with  greater  freedom  are  less  likely  to  strain 
or  contract  the  throat  in  an  effort  io  produce  the  right 
tone.  Hence,  part  work  introducing  modulation,  giving 
opportunity  for  observing  the  characteristic  key  changes, 
can  be  effectively  practiced.  Much  will  depend  upon  how 
the  voice  is  used  whether  injury  is  done  or  not.  Light 
voice  practice  for  developing  flexibility  starting  from  the 
upper  tones  and  coming  down  is  the  only  safe  way  for 
unchanged  voices.  While  for  those  whose  voices  have 
changed,  drawing  attention  to  the  gradual  change  in  the 
way  the  tones  are  produced  in  passing  from  the  chest  to 
the  head  register  between  the  pitches  of  A'  and  C,  will 
help  to  protect  the  voices. 

second  stage:  design  in  relation  to  text 

The  new  work  of  the  eighth  year  will  commence  with 
that  aspect  of  music  so  popular  in  modern  times  in  which 
the  thought  of  the  listener  is  guided  by  means  other  than 
that  of  the  music  itself.  A  descriptive  title,  a  bit  of  poetry, 
running  comments  relative  to  the  nature  of  what  is  in- 
tended, act  as  suggestions  to  the  listener.  In  Pieces  for 
Children,  by  Schumann,  The  Happy  Farmer,  The  Poor 
Orphan,  The  Hunting  Song,  St.  Nick  are  all  titles  that  aid 
the  imagination  in  forming  the  image  which  the  music 
seeks  to  present.  The  desire  for  such  help  is  universal  and 
persistent.  The  tendency  to  name  pieces,  even  where  the 
composer  himself  has  not  done  so,  as  in  some  of  Men- 
delssohn's Songs  Without  Words,  or  Beethoven's  Moon- 


176  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

light  Sonata,  is  an  instance  of  this.  While  to  the  lively 
imagination  such  aids  seem  like  impertinences,  most  of  us 
like  the  "boost"  they  give.  The  way  in  which  the  modern 
composer,  even  in  his  symphonic  works,  ministers  to  this 
tendency  shows  how  keenly  he  appreciates  its  value.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  it  is  certainly  a  great  aid  to  the  adolescent 
in  giving  content  to  his  music. 

If  the  teacher  cannot  play  she  will  have  to  call  on  her 
musical  friends  or  perhaps  the  students  in  the  class;  or, 
better  still,  for  the  scope  of  her  illustrations,  will  be  the 
assistance  of  a  piano  player.  After  telling  something  of 
the  Peer  Gynt  story  or  refreshing  the  children's  minds 
with  the  fairy  scenes  of  the  Midsummer  Night's  Dream, 
she  will  have  Grieg's  Peer  Gynt  suite  or  Mendelssohn's 
overture  played.  The  zest  which  the  human  interest  adds 
to  the  music  will  be  clearly  felt.  So,  too,  the  Wagner 
operas,  especially  The  Ring,  supply  a  rich  mine  for  such 
illustrations.  For  here  the  great  myths  which  so  effectively 
portray  the  primal  passions  of  mankind,  and  with  which 
the  pupils  are  already  somewhat  familiar  from  their  liter- 
ary study,  gain  an  added  interest  from  the  way  in  which 
the  great  composer  makes  us  feel  anew  their  force  and 
beauty. 

But  our  education  will  lack  its  discipline  if  we  stop 
with  simply  feeling,  for  such  a  limitation  defeats  itself. 
The  mind  must  be  awakened  to  observe  the  means  em- 
ployed, and  through  this  perception  still  deeper  feeling 
will  be  made  possible.  Let  the  teacher  give  as  an  exam- 
ple the  opening  of  the  Rheingold  opera;  the  dullest,  when 


THE  EIGHTH  YEAR  177 

the  association  is  made,  will  feel  the  flow  of  the  mighty 
river.  Now  let  her  ask  for  the  means  used  to  produce 
this  effect  and  all  the  previous  experience  and  knowledge 
of  the  pupils  will  be  immediately  brought  into  play.  They 
will  appreciate  the  tonic  chord,  the  way  the  effect  is  pro- 
duced by  the  figure  employed,  the  gradual  stimulating  of 
excitement  through  the  increase  in  the  number  of  tones 
used  in  the  pulse.  They  become  conscious  of  the  simplic- 
ity of  the  means  and  the  effectiveness  of  the  result,  and  as 
a  consequence  become  better  musical  judges.  This  is 
only  one  of  many  illustrative  passages  which  that  opera 
alone  supplies.  This  continual  inquiry  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher  (after  the  pupil  has  felt  the  force  and  beauty  of 
the  passage)  as  to  how  the  result  has  been  obtained  not 
only  raises  such  listening  exercises  to  the  level  of  the  most 
intensive  intellectual  work  elsewhere  done  by  the  pupils, 
but  also  leads  to  that  observation  of  music  necessary  to 
place  the  pupil  in  a  frame  of  mind  which  will  enable  him 
to  take  pleasure  in  the  forms  of  pure  music  represented  by 
the  fugue  and  the  sonata. 

THIRD  STAGE:  PURE   DESIGN  IN  MUSIC 

In  beginning  the  study  of  compositions  where  symmetry 
is  uppermost,  short  and  simple  illustrations  from  Schu- 
mann, similar  to  those  already  mentioned,  should  be  used. 
The  children  will  listen  to  the  Soldier's  March,  for  in- 
stance, and  notice  that  while  the  same  rhythmic  figure  runs 
throughout  the  tune  there  is  a  passage  in  the  center  which 
is  so  differently  treated  that  the  impression  is  giv.-n  of  a 
Music — 12 


178  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

beginning,  a  middle,  and  an  end  resembling  the  beginning. 
They  will  find  that  in  most  music  this  principle  prevails, 
but  with  infinite  variety.  In  some  compositions  the  middle 
may  introduce  an  entirely  new  idea,  while  in  the  longer 
pieces,  like  St.  Nick,  each  of  the  three  divisions  may  be 
subdivided  into  three  parts.  Practice  in  the  seventh  grade 
has  trained  pupils  to  appreciate  the  delicate  way  by  which 
is  suggested  the  relation  of  these  various  divisions  to  one 
another. 

As  suggested  in  the  previous  chapter,  it  will  be  found 
a  great  advantage  in  grasping  this  idea  of  design  if  the 
teacher  can  illustrate  how  it  is  worked  out  under  similar 
conditions  in  arts  that  appeal  to  the  eye.  Take  the  surface 
decoration,  for  instance, — such  as  book  covers,  rugs,  and 
many  embroideries, — where  similar  conditions  that  control 
music  are  exemplified.  First,  the  design  is  not  a  likeness 
of  any  organic  thing,  as  in  the  case  of  a  picture  or  statue; 
but  an  organic  unity  is  secured  by  so  grouping  and  ar- 
ranging the  parts  as  to  give  the  impression  of  a  single 
whole.  Second,  the  way  this  impression  of  organic  unity 
is  obtained  can  be  graphically  illustrated  by  observing 
a  beautiful  book  cover,  rug,  or  embroidery  under  the  same 
conditions  that  we  have  in  music;  that  is,  not  as  a  whole 
in  either  case,  but  in  series,  as  we  hear  the  tones  of  music 
in  succession.  Let  the  reader  cover  such  a  design  with 
two  pieces  of  paper,  a  narrow  opening  being  left  between 
them.  Let  him  begin  to  observe  with  this  opening  at  one 
side  of  the  design  and  gradually  move  the  papers  until 
the  opening  has  slowly  traversed  the  whole.     By  looking 


THE  EIGHTH  YEAR  179 

through  this  narrow  slit  while  the  papers  are  being  moved 
he  sees  the  whole  design  in  succession  exactly  as  he  hears 
music;  first  the  portion  at  the  outer  edge,  then  those  sec- 
tions which  lead  to  the  center,  and  finally  the  return  of 
what  was  first  seen.  He  will  thus  have  observed  a  begin- 
ning, a  middle,  and  an  end  similar  to  the  beginning.  By 
taking  as  examples  a  sufficient  number  of  surface  designs 
we  can  show  that  however  infinite  the  variety  there  is  yet 
a  perfectly  obvious  principle  underlying  the  grouping. 
The  center  of  a  book  cover  may  be  perfectly  plain,  the 
design  being  concerned  merely  with  the  edge,  yet  the  unity 
of  the  whole  is  due  to  the  relationship  of  the  two.  Or  the 
arrangement  may  be  just  the  reverse,  the  center  having  a 
design  and  the  edges  being  perfectly  plain,  but  again  in 
this  case  the  very  plainness  of  the  edge  is  necessary  to 
make  the  whole  effective. 

So  in  a  piece  of  music  the  first  part  may  be  important 
while  the  middle  sinks  almost  to  a  transition  passage:  or, 
on  the  contrary,  the  first  and  last  parts  may  consist  of  a 
few  chords,  seeming  to  serve  merely  as  introduction  and 
conclusion,  while  the  middle  contains  the  main  idea,  thus 
comprising  the  greater  part  of  the  piece.  In  Schumann's 
Soldier's  March,  for  example,  there  is  but  one  main  idea 
coming  in  at  first,  but  by  a  slight  change  of  treatment  in 
the  middle  and  by  the  recurrence  of  the  first  idea  at  the 
end,  the  principle  of  succession  necessary  for  unity  is 
illustrated.  If  now  we  compare  this  piece  with  St.  Nick 
we  find  that  this  middle  part  has  changed  from  a  mere 
variation  of  the  first  to  an  important  and  distinct  feature 


180  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

in  itself.  Thus  the  idea  of  repetition  and  the  end  it  serves 
in  producing  the  feeling  of  organic  unity  can  be  made 
clear  both  by  graphic  and  musical  examples.  It  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  pupils  of  these  grades  are  constantly 
employing  this  principle  in  much  of  their  design  work, 
both  in  manual  training  and  in  art. 

The  teacher  can  now  draw  attention  to  a  method  for 
bringing  about  unity  in  design,  in  which  the  aim  is  not  so 
much  symmetry  as  relationship  of  parts  to  a  whole,  the 
class  described  as  polyphonic  in  the  preceding  chapter. 
Illustrations  will  again  be  found  in  surface  designs, — 
such  as  carpets  and  wall  papers, — in  which  a  figure  is 
repeated  over  and  over,  the  idea  being  to  give  a  similarity 
with  variety  to  the  whole,  rather  than  to  break  the  whole 
into  large  proportionate  parts.  Though  borders  are  sup- 
plied they  do  not  have  the  importance  in  reference  to  the 
design  as  they  have  in  the  preceding  class.  The  same 
experiment  of  moving  an  opening  over  a  part  of  a  carpet 
or  wall  paper  design  shows  that  a  given  figure  with  its 
accessories  keeps  recurring.  This  figure  may  be  extremely 
simple  or  may  be  quite  complex  with  many  complementary 
figures;  but  that  feature  which  was  most  characteristic  in 
the  other  illustration,  the  formal  division  of  masses  into 
beginning,  middle  and  end,  will  be  wanting. 

Now  if,  as  an  illustration,  a  Bach  invention  or  a  Handel 
fugue  is  played  a  similar  impression  will  be  gained.  The 
opening  figure  or  subject,  with  others  worked  out  from  it, 
will  be  constantly  appearing,  but  the  formal  limitation 
that  requires  the  last  part  to  be  a  repetition  of  the  first  is 


THE  EIGHTH  YEAR  181 

not  apparent.  Although  in  Bach's  fine  works  a  subtle 
relationship  of  large  masses  is  distinctly  felt  by  the  average 
listener,  the  piece  moves  on  harmoniously  with  the  con- 
trasts that  can  be  worked  out  from  the  main  subject.  It 
makes  little  difference  whether  the  piece  consists  of  twenty 
measures  or  two  hundred,  or  whether  the  design  covers 
yards  and  yards  of  surface  or  only  a  few  feet;  the  prin- 
ciple is  the  same.  The  design  has  no  formal  limitation  as 
when  a  border,  center,  and  then  border  again  were  ex- 
pected, as  in  the  book  cover,  rug,  or  embroidery;  of  a  first 
subject,  second  subject,  and  first  subject  again  as  in 
symmetrical  music.  Pupils  will  realize  that  repetition  is 
the  principle  underlying  both  modes  of  attaining  unity, 
but  that  in  one  case  it  is  secured  through  symmetry  and 
balancing  of  parts;  and  in  the  other,  through  continuity 
or  the  constant  resemblance  of  the  material  to  what  has 
preceded  it. 

With  this  distinction  clearly  in  mind  a  more  systematic 
observation  of  polyphonic  music  can  be  begun.  The 
children  sing  rounds  and  notice  how  the  unity  is  developed 
through  this  style  of  repetition;  canons  and  fugues  are 
also  played  to  them.  Through  all  this  they  realize  the 
necessity  for  grasping  the  initial  subject.  Their  motif 
work  has  given  them  excellent  training  toward  this  end 
and  they  take  a  delight  in  seeing  how  Bach  plays  with  his 
subject  in  an  invention  or  develops  it  in  a  fugue.  It  is 
not  necessary  at  present  to  take  up  the  subject  and  counter- 
subject,  stretto,  and  episode;  it  is  the  principle  of  knowing 
how  to  follow  and  the  practice  in  following,  which  are  the 


182  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

aims  of  the  work.  We  wish  the  pupils  to  be  interested  in 
listening;  the  ability  to  give  technical  names  is  not  nec- 
essary. With  this  introduction  to  polyphonic  music, 
pupils  become  familiar  with  Bach  and  Handel,  learn 
something  of  their  lives  and  the  times  in  which  they  lived, 
and  are  able  to  connect  a  few  characteristic  compositions 
with  the  composers'  names. 

The  pupils  are  now  ready  to  observe  the  sonata  form. 
The  necessary  introduction  has  already  been  made  by 
developing  the  idea  of  repetition  in  connection  with  de- 
sign. By  starting  with  the  polyphonic  school  the  connec- 
tion is  made  with  the  historical  development  of  music. 
Examples  can  be  played  from  the  Bach  suites,  where,  in 
spite  of  the  polyphonic  style,  the  principle  of  symmetry 
is  present;  for  a  double  bar  near  the  center  indicates  the 
second  part  as  balancing  the  first,  and  the  change  of  keys 
at  the  end  of  the  first  part  and  the  working  back  at  the 
commencement  of  the  second  part  suggest,  though  rather 
vaguely,  what  the  pupils  have  already  observed  as  fun- 
damental to  those  forms  of  music  controlled  by  the  idea 
of  symmetry. 

Passing  from  these  to  the  simplest  illustrations  of 
Mozart's  and  Haydn's  sonatas,  the  contrast  between  the 
old  idea  of  continuity  and  the  new  idea  of  proportion 
and  symmetry  that  these  examples  illustrate  is  strikingly 
brought  out.  It  is  now  necessary  to  ask  the  same  old 
question,  how  is  this  done  ?  The  pupils  observe  that  there 
are  certain  important  subjects,  and  that  grouped  around 
these  are  lesser  ones,  the  latter  being  easily  distinguished 


THE  EIGHTH  YEAR  183 

from  the  others  by  their  very  apparent  transitional  nature. 
They  seem  to  serve  as  connection  between  the  more  im- 
portant subjects.  The  first  part— as  far  as  the  double 
bar — of  a  number  of  sonatas  should  now  be  played  until 
the  pupils  can  observe  that  though  the  treatment  varies 
there  is  a  similarity  in  principle,  a  tendency  to  have  main 
subjects  with  transitional  passages,  in  some  cases  growing 
into  importance  so  that  they  rival  the  main  subjects  both 
in  length  and  in  the  attention  they  receive.  This  should  be 
followed  by  playing  the  middle  passage,  or  the  fantasia 
part,  of  the  same  illustrations,  the  pupils  observing  how 
much  freer  is  the  employment  of  material  here,  resembling 
in  some  cases  the  polyphonic  treatment.  While  in  the  first 
division  there  was  a  certain  similarity  in  key  treatment, 
the  greater  freedom  in  this  part  will  be  noted.  Finally,  in 
the  last  part  of  the  same  sonata  movements,  often  called 
the  recapitulation,  the  resemblance  to  the  first  part  or  ex- 
position will  be  observed,  as  also  the  change  of  key  to  bring 
about  symmetry,  and  the  tendency  to  develop  the  final 
figure,  so  as  to  form  a  tailpiece,  or  Coda. 

Such  a  comparison  of  movements  is  sufficient  to  establish 
the  following  ideas  in  connection  with  the  sonata  form: 
that  the  first  part  is  an  exposition  of  the  material  and  re- 
quires close  concentration  if  the  rest  of  the  work  is  to  be 
intelligible;  that  this  is  followed  by  a  second  part  which 
serves  as  a  contrast  to  the  first  and  last,  and  exhibits  the 
greatest  amount  of  freedom  and  variety;  and  finally,  that 
the  last  part  is  a  recapitulation  of  the  first,  but  varies  from 
it  because  it  ends  the  work  instead  of  leading  into  it.    The 


1 84  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

pupils  realize  as  never  before  that  a  work  taking  ten  or 
fifteen  minutes  to  perform  may,  without  the  use  of  words 
or  any  other  external  aid  to  tell  what  it  is  about,  still  with 
all  its  variety  give  the  impression  of  one  complete  whole. 
They  see  that  this  is  brought  about  by  a  careful  adjust- 
ment of  parts  to  one  another,  and  they  feel  the  necessity 
for  attentive  listening  to  catch  the  composer's  thought.  A 
sonata  of  Beethoven  demands  as  much  attention  as  does 
a  play  of  Shakespeare. 

The  great  advantage  of  this  attitude  of  mind  will  be 
apparent  when  one  remembers  that  the  ordinary  listener 
thinks  of  music  only  as  sensuous  excitement  and  for  this 
very  reason  fails  to  make  the  effort  necessary  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  its  higher  forms.  Besides  this  advantage  of  mental 
attitude,  there  is  another  in  the  fact  that  the  sonata  form  has 
dominated  all  great  instrumental  compositions,  and  that  the 
ability  to  follow  its  structure  is  an  aid  in  comprehending 
even  the  freer  forms  of  modern  composers.  Therefore,  the 
study  of  the  sonata  form  is  not  an  end  in  itself,  but  a  means 
by  the  aid  of  which  the  pupil  may  learn  to  listen  to  music 
more  intelligently. 

THIRD    STAGE:   THE    MUSICAL   SENTENCE 

The  knowledge  that  the  sonata  contains  expositions, 
fantasia,  and  recapitulation  is  of  no  value  to  the  pupil 
if,  when  he  hears  a  sonata,  he  is  unable  to  distinguish  the 
musical  sentences  that  make  up  these  parts.  A  student 
familiar  with  the  theory  that  a  drama  should  consist  of  five 
acts  with  the  climax  in  the  third  will  read  one  of  Shake- 


THE  EIGHTH  YEAR  185 

speare's  plays  with  more  intelligence  than  a  person  who 
knows  nothing  about  the  structural  differences  between 
a  novel  and  a  play;  yet,  after  all,  a  play  is  appreciated 
through  the  grasping  of  each  successive  sentence,  and  no 
amount  of  theoretical  knowledge  with  reference  to  the 
structure  as  a  whole  can  compensate  the  person  who  does 
not  feel  the  significance  of  the  material  as  it  is  presented. 
Hence  in  music  the  primary  aim  is  the  recognition  of  the 
musical  thought  units,  the  sentences,  if  you  please,  of  the 
story.  It  is  not  at  all  essential  that  the  oupil  be  able  to  tell 
whether  a  given  passage  is  the  second  subject  in  a  Beetho- 
ven symphony  or  is  a  well-developed  phrase  in  a  transi- 
tional passage.  It  is  well  worth  while,  however,  for  him 
to  hear  the  passage  so  that  he  recognizes  its  difference 
from,  and  likeness  to,  what  precedes  and  follows.  In  this 
stage,  therefore,  after  the  pupils  have  some  notion  of  the 
larger  groupings  and  their  relationship  to  one  another  in 
the  sonata  form,  the  rest  of  the  time  set  aside  for  such 
work  may  well  be  devoted,  not  to  an  attempt  at  analyzing 
what  they  hear  with  reference  to  such  formal  groupings, 
but  simply  to  hearing  the  subject-matter  itself. 

To  illustrate  the  method  which  is  used,  let  the  reader 
hum  the  tune  Should  Auld  Acquaintance  Be  Forgot  as 
far  as  the  words  given,  and  with  pencil  in  hand  draw  a 
horizontal  line  slowly  while  he  sings,  commencing  with 
the  second  syllable.  Then  let  him  sing  the  next  phrase 
in  the  same  way,  making  a  line  under  the  first,  and  so  on 
through  the  tune.  Now  by  humming  it  through  a  second 
time  and  grouping  these,  it  will  be  found  that  the  eight 


1 86  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

unite  into  groups  of  two,  the  second  of  each  answering 
the  first,  and  these  pairs  also  group  into  two,  thus  divid- 
ing the  tune  into  two  halves  the  latter  parts  of  which  are 
similar;  by  noticing  how  they  are  alike  or  unlike,  it  is 
possible  to  name  the  parts  for  discussion  and  study. 

Should  auld  acquaintance  be  forgot 

And  never  brought  to  min'  ) 

Should  auld  acquaintance  be  forgot 

And  days  o'  auld  lang  syne  ) 

For  auld  lang  syne  my  dear 

For  auld  lang  syne  ) 

We'll  take  a  cup  o'  kindness  now 

For  auld  lang  syne.  ) 

The  pupils  are  first  given  practice  in  this  work  through 
the  use  of  folk  songs;  afterwards  they  take  the  simpler 
pieces  of  Schumann  and  Schubert  until  they  can  easily 
draw  a  line  the  whole  length  of  each  passage,  the  ends 
of  the  lines  marking  the  important  cadences,  or  points 
of  division.  Dance  music  is  another  symmetrical  form  in 
which  the  sentences  can  be  traced  with  comparative  ease. 

After  the  power  of  listening  to  the  thought  has  been 
established,  comes  the  utilization  of  more  complex  material 
taken  from  the  simpler  forms  of  modern  romantic  music 
and  sonatas,  where  the  musical  thought  does  not  break 
up  into  similar  rhythmic  units.  These  may  be  main  sub- 
jects, transitional  passages,  developed  episodes,  or  the 
Coda.  The  passage  should  be  played  over  a  number  of 
times  until  the  pupils  have  mentally  decided  which  they 
consider  distinct  passages  or  sentences. 


THE  EIGHTH  YEAR  187 

After  they  have  drawn  the  lines,  they  should  compare 
or  criticise  one  another's  work.  It  will  be  found  that 
hardly  any  two  judgments  agree,  but  this  does  not  affect 
the  value  of  the  exercise.  One  student  in  listening  to  a 
large  complex  subject  breaks  it  up  into  two  or  three  parts, 
that  is,  he  notices  the  differences;  another  who  hears  the 
same  passage  groups  it  all  as  one  whole,  his  mind  being 
attracted  by  the  likenesses.  Both  are  basing  their  judg- 
ments on  real  experience,  and  one  is  just  as  valuable  as 
the  other  for  developing  ability  for  listening  to  music. 
From  the  point  of  view  of  the  exercise  it  is  not  the  aim  that 
the  passage  should  be  named  correctly  as  a  whole,  but 
that  both  the  unity  and  the  variety  should  be  recognized. 
Drawing  a  line  to  mark  a  passage  aids  the  memory  in 
locating  it  and  thus  makes  it  possible  to  describe  what 
one  has  heard. 

It  is  true  that  such  intensive  intellectual  effort  in- 
terferes with  the  delicious  reverie  with  which  one  likes  to 
accompany  music  heard  for  enjoyment  alone.  It  must  be 
borne  in  mind,  however,  that  the  purpose  of  this  work  is 
to  develop  the  power  to  grasp  the  content  of  the  music 
and  to  appreciate  the  means  employed  in  giving  it  effect. 
In  this  respect  it  differs  from  the  ordinary  process  of  listen- 
ing, in  the  same  way  that  the  reading  of  poetry  for  the 
study  of  the  thought  and  form  differs  from  reading  it  for 
its  rhythmical  swing  and  sonorous  tone  quality.  The  first 
method  is  subsidiary  and  is  justified  by  the  fact  that  it 
increases  one's  power  of  complete  aesthetic  enjoyment. 

The  study  of  the  sonata  will  naturally  awaken,  as  in 


1 88  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

the  case  of  the  polyphonic  music,  an  interest  in  the  com- 
posers and  their  times.  The  teacher  may  stimulate  this 
interest  by  having  the  pupils  prepare  papers  on  the  lives 
and  important  works  of  great  masters,  connecting  this 
exercise  as  far  as  possible  with  their  literary  and  historical 
studies.  This  work  also  will  be  aided  by  having  the  ex- 
amples played, — if  not  by  individuals,  by  instruments, — 
as  was  suggested  for  the  previous  study. 

The  extent  of  the  ground  to  be  covered  should  be  de- 
cided not  by  the  subject,  but  by  the  capacity  and  oppor- 
tunity of  the  class.  As  far  as  the  material  is  concerned, 
this  work  could  be  effectively  carried  on  throughout  the 
high  school  course.  What  is  here  attempted  is  merely  to 
give  the  pupil  an  introduction  to  instrumental  music  so 
that  he  can  take  the  fullest  advantage  of  such  musical 
opportunities  as  ordinarily  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  average 
person. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
PLAN  OF  INSTRUCTION  BY  TOPICS 

A  plan  for  teaching  a  topic  may  have  many  divisions, 
but  four  essential  processes  will  always  be  present.  The 
first  step  is  when  the  teacher  thinks  over  the  subject  so  as 
to  have  more  clearly  in  mind  just  what  she  is  going  to 
teach.  The  second  step  is  to  think  of  the  topics  in  the 
light  of  the  probable  experience  that  the  pupils  have  had 
with  reference  to  the  subject.  The  interest  with  which 
they  take  it  up,  what  they  get  out  of  it,  will  be  pretty  surely 
in  proportion  to  what  they  already  know  concerning  it. 

In  the  first  step,  the  teacher  makes  clear  in  her  own  mind 
what  she  wants  to  teach;  she  defines  her  aim,  which  grows 
largely  out  of  the  subject  itself.  In  the  second  step,  she 
defines  the  probable  attitude  of  the  pupils.  This  attitude 
will  be  the  pupils'  aim  with  reference  to  the  subject  re- 
sulting from  their  particular  experience  in  relation  to  it. 

The  third  step  is  a  union  of  the  first  two.  The  problem 
is,  how  to  realize  the  teacher's  aim,  given  the  pupils'  ex- 
perience. This  step  will  require  the  thinking  through  of 
the  lesson,  bearing  in  mind  the  particular  conditions  under 
which  it  will  have  to  be  given.  The  new  knowledge  is 
welded  with  the  experience  of  the  pupil  so  that  it  becomes 
a  part  of  him,  his  own  experience,  capable  of  serving  as 

189 


190  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

the  starting  point  for  still  further  knowledge.  As  in  all 
welding,  this  step  requires  that  the  edges  shall  be  pre- 
pared for  each  other,  free  in  this  application  from  all 
thought  obstructions,  such  as  ambiguity  or  confusion. 

The  fourth  step  consists  in  testing  the  new  knowledge; 
the  teacher  hardens,  if  you  please,  her  weld,  by  plunging 
it  into  water.  Is  the  union  solid  ?  Can  the  pupil  employ, 
explain,  and  defend  what  he  knows  ? 

The  fourth  step  may  be  very  short  in  academic  subjects 
if  simply  grasping  the  idea  is  all  that  is  required;  but  in  art 
study,  especially  in  music,  where  a  technical  application 
of  the  idea  is  essential  to  give  it  value,  this  step  may  occupy 
many  lesson  periods  in  which  the  ideas  presented  are  ap- 
plied over  and  over  until  skill  is  gained  in  their  use. 

Thus  the  lesson  plan  principle  here  suggested  must 
not  be  thought  of  under  the  limitations  of  a  twenty-minute 
period;  yet  the  ideas  must  be  so  closely  presented  that  the 
relation  of  the  various  stages  to  each  other  is  not  lost. 
Lesson  plans  presenting  a  new  principle  will  not  be  fre- 
quent in  music.  There  is  not  a  large  mass  of  material 
to  be  presented  to  the  students,  as  in  geography  or  history. 
There  is,  on  the  other  hand,  an  infinite  application  of  a 
few  important  musical  principles.  These  are  presented 
in  the  stages  and  steps  of  the  work  of  the  grades. 

After  the  idea  of  one  of  these  principles  has  been  care- 
fully presented,  covering  in  some  cases  a  number  of  twenty- 
minute  periods  in  succession,  there  may  follow  weeks 
when  the  work  is  simply  the  development  of  skill  in  the 
application  of  the  principle. 


PLAN  OF  INSTRUCTION  BY  TOPICS  191 

Let  us  take  the  first  steps  in  rhythmic  notation  as  a 
topic  to  illustrate  our  point.  This  is  described  under  the 
third  stage  of  the  second  year  work  (Chapter  VII).  The 
teacher  will  begin  with  the  first  step  of  the  lesson  scheme: 
What  ideas  are  implied  in  the  commencement  of  rhythmic 
notation?  These  are,  first,  various  tone  lengths.  She 
must  select  a  number  of  these,  sufficient  to  illustrate  the 
principle,  and  yet  not  so  many  as  to  make  the  subject 
complex.  Let  us  say  that  she  decides  to  use  the  half, 
quarter,  and  eighth  notes  for  her  illustrations.  But  half, 
quarter,  and  eighth  mean  nothing  unless  they  are  realized 
in  connection  with  time  values  expressed  in  pulses,  e.  g., 
a  pint,  quart,  or  gallon  of  milk  means  nothing  unless  there 
is  some  idea  as  to  what  the  relative  capacities  of  these 
measures  are  in  relation  to  the  person's  own  experience. 
Hence  a  second  idea  must  be  added, — the  relation  of 
halves,  quarters,  and  eighths  to  each  other,  i.  e.,  the  pulse 
idea.  It  is  the  union  of  these  two,  duration  and  pulsation, 
which  produces  the  idea  that  notation  represents.  The 
teacher  thinks  out  how  the  entrance,  grouping,  and  accents 
of  tones  make  the  pulse  evident,  at  the  same  time  that 
the  pulse  makes  evident  the  nature  of  their  relative  dura- 
tion. 

She  now  takes  up  the  second  step  in  the  lesson  scheme 
and  asks  herself,  "What  experiences  have  these  second 
year  children  had  with  reference  to  tone  duration  and 
pulsation  that  will  enable  me  to  combine  them  so  as  to 
reach  a  new  principle?"  The  children  in  the  first  year 
have  enjoyed  walking,  marching,  and  swaying,  in  con- 


192  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

nection  with  music.  They  have  done  this  at  first  for  the 
pleasure  of  it.  What  a  strong,  lasting  pleasure  this  is,  we 
realize  when  we  think  that  it  commences  with  the  gentle 
rocking  of  the  mother's  arm,  the  "Trot,  trot  to  Boston," 
of  the  father's  knee,  and  that  it  is  still  present  when  the 
gray  head  keeps  time  by  swaying  to  the  music  of  band  or 
orchestra. 

This  first  enjoyment  of  moving  to  music  has  been  guided 
according  to  the  second  and  third  principles  given  in 
Chapter  I,  i.  e.,  the  pulse  experience  has  been  organ- 
ized so  that  the  unmusical  child  has  become  conscious 
of  it,  and  actions  like  marking  time  with  the  foot  and 
swinging  circles  with  the  hand  have  made  it  possible  for 
the  child  of  average  musical  ability  to  conceive  of  the 
rhythmic  feature  of  music  in  the  total  musical  impression. 
Similarly  these  same  principles  have  been  applied  in  the 
previous  work  to  the  idea  of  duration.  The  children  have 
enjoyed  the  fun  of  telling  what  they  were  thinking  of  by 
clapping  the  tones;  Yankee  Doodle  goes  so  differently  from 
America.  They  have  gone  one  step  further.  They  have 
differentiated  between  those  two  modes  of  action,  not  only 
by  making  the  motion  for  the  pulsation  idea  different  from 
that  for  duration,  but  also  by  picturing  one  with  circles 
and  vertical  lines  and  the  other  with  dashes  of  various 
lengths.  That  is,  the  children  have  ideas  with  reference 
to  pulsation  and  duration  as  separate  phenomena;  they 
have  experienced  them  in  their  music  so  that  they  can 
pick  them  out  from  simple  songs,  and  they  can  act  and 
picture  them  separately.    This  completes  the  teacher's  re- 


PLAN  OF  INSTRUCTION  BY  TOPICS 


J93 


view  of  the  children's  experience,  which  constitutes  her 
second  step. 

The  teacher  is  now  ready  to  think  through  her  third 
step,  which  will  be  to  unite  what  her  pupils  have  in  their  ex- 
perience— what  they  know — with  what  she  wishes  to  teach 
them;  in  this  case,  the  ability  to  form  ideas  from  halves, 
quarters,  and  eighth  notes  written  on  the  board.  In  think- 
ing out  this  step,  she  will  imagine  herself  before  her  class 
actually  giving  the  work.  We  will  therefore  describe  it 
as  taking  place. 

Her  first  act  will  be  to  draw  on  the  board  a  group  of 
five  lines  resembling  the  staff.  This  the  children  are  fa- 
miliar with,  for  they  have  put  diagonal  dashes  on  it  to 
represent  the  tones.  Instead  of  such  dashes  the  teacher 
might  write  a  little  motif  consisting  of  a  quarter,  two 
eighths,  and  a  half  tone  on  the  same  line.  She  will  precede 
the  half  notes  by  a  vertical  bar,  and  follow  it  by  two  bars 
side  by  side  and  place  at  the  beginning  the  time  signature 
two-four.  The  children's  curiosity  is  awakened  by  the  new 
signs.  The  teacher  tells  them  that  these  show  how  music 
goes  and  that  she  is  to  teach  them  to-day  just  how  this  is 
done.  Since  the  children  are  familiar  with  pitch  movement 
as  well  as  with  rhythmic  movement,  she  will  have  to  devise 
some  way  to  make  them  realize  which  kind  of  musical 
"go"  these  signs  represent.  She  hums  two  measures  of 
Star  Spangled  Banner,  and  asks  the  children  to  describe  the 
two  ways  in  which  it  goes.  She  tells  them  that  the  notes 
she  has  written  represent  that  form  of  movement  which 
they  act  by  swinging  and  clapping,  and  picture  by  circles 
Music — 13 


194  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

and  dashes.  In  order  to  show  them  how  the  signs  repre 
sent  this,  she  starts  by  asking  them  to  sing  and  picture 
some  familiar  songs,  such  as  Hot  Cross  Buns  and  Ding 
Dong  Bell.  The  children  make  two  pictures  for  each 
song:  one  with  circles  to  mark  the  pulse,  the  other  with 
dashes  to  mark  the  duration. 

The  teacher  now  thinks  over  how  she  shall  unite  these 
two  ideas  in  order  to  show  the  relationship  between  them. 
She  takes  up  the  duration  problem  first,  and  gets  them  to 
realize  how  the  tones  in  the  two  songs  vary  in  length :  they 
notice  that  there  is  a  medium  length,  a  longer  and  a  shorter 
one,  making  three  durations  in  all. 

The  teacher's  next  problem  is  to  awaken  in  the  children 
the  need  of  some  standard  by  which  to  measure  these.  She 
may  do  this  by  placing  three  books  before  them.  The 
children  realize  that  there  are  differences  in  sizes  as  there 
are  in  tone  lengths.  With  the  books  they  can  tell  what  the 
exact  difference  is  by  using  a  ruler.  One  book  is,  say, 
eight  inches  in  length,  the  second,  four.  The  essential 
thing  in  the  measuring  process  is  that  there  be  a  recurring 
unit  by  means  of  which  the  various  objects  can  be  com- 
pared in  terms  of  which  their  differences  can  be  stated, 
such  as  inches  in  the  case  of  the  ruler  and  books.  The 
teacher's  aim  is  to  make  the  children  realize  that  in  order 
to  measure  the  differences  in  tones,  they  need  something 
like  a  ruler,  except  that  the  things  marked  off  must  be 
equal  lengths  in  time  and  not  in  distance.  Turning  to  the 
board  she  has  the  children  sing  and  act  what  is  pictured. 
They  readily  discover  that  in  each  tune  the  pulses  and  the 


PLAN  OF  INSTRUCTION  BY  TOPICS  195 

circles  recur  regularly.  Then  by  means  of  these  they  can 
measure.  How  shall  it  be  applied  ?  In  the  same  way  as 
the  size  of  the  book  was  discovered  by  bringing  the  book 
and  the  ruler  together.  They  try  applying  their  pulse 
ruler  vocally.  She  will  sing  the  first  three  words  of  Hot 
Cross  Buns  and  ask  children  to  measure  with  the  circles 
and  see  whether  the  word  "buns"  is  like  "hot  cross"  in 
length.  She  will  also  reverse  this  process  and  ask  the  chil- 
dren to  sing  Ding  Dong  Bell  while  she  swings  the  circles. 
The  children  discover  that  not  only  is  the  third  tone  in 
both  songs  just  as  long  as  the  two  preceding,  but  by  con- 
tinuing these  songs  they  come  to  passages  where  two  tones 
instead  of  one  come  on  a  circle.  Thus  they  find  that  they 
can  measure  three  kinds  of  lengths:  one  going  with  the 
pulse,  one  requiring  two  pulses,  and  a  short  kind  of  which 
it  takes  two  even  tones  to  fill  up  a  pulse.  What  has  been 
united  in  tone  and  action  will  also  be  united  in  tone  and 
picture.  This  picture  consists  of  circles  with  vertical 
lines  just  before,  and  extending  above,  each  large  circle. 
The  resulting  even  space  above  the  circles  is  filled  with  the 
dashes  representing  the  tones,  the  length  of  the  dash  repre- 
senting one  pulse  tone  being  made  the  width  of  the  circle, 
that  of  the  two  pulse  tone  being  two  circles;  thus  the  re- 
lation of  duration  to  pulse  is  visualized  in  such  a  close 
way  that  the  interrelation  of  the  tones  represented  is  not 
lost. 

The  teacher  now  plans  to  make  direct  connection  be- 
tween the  signs  she  placed  on  the  board  at  the  beginning 
of  the  lesson  and  the  means  for  tone  measurement  that 


196  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

she  has  developed.  She  places  the  quarter  note  on  the 
dash  that  represents  a  single  circle,  the  half  note  on  that 
representing  two  circles,  and  the  eighth  notes  where  two 
dashes  come  to  a  circle.  She  tells  the  children  that  mu- 
sicians use  these  signs  instead  of  pictures,  much  as  they 
themselves  use  the  word  dog  to  save  drawing  a  picture  of 
the  animal.  So  the  musician  draws  a  vertical  line  where 
each  strong  pulse  should  come.  Each  line  drawn  across 
the  staff  on  the  blackboard  means  that  the  strong  pulse 
directly  follows  it. 

She  will  now  have  to  bring  out  the  idea  that  putting 
in  the  vertical  line  is  not  sufficient  to  give  the  complete 
pulse  idea,  since  the  number  of  weak  pulses  which  fall  be- 
tween two  strong  pulses  varies  with  different  tunes:  some 
have  only  one  weak  pulse,  some  have  several.  The  circles 
represent  the  total  number  of  pulses,  but  the  vertical  lines 
represent  only  the  strong  pulses.  In  order  to  indicate  both 
the  strong  and  the  weak  pulses  between  two  vertical  lines, 
the  upper  figure  is  placed  at  the  beginning :  in  this  case  the 
two  shows  that  there  are  two  pulses  between  the  vertical 
lines. 

She  will  next  state  that  musicians  do  not  always  use 
the  same  length  of  note  to  represent  a  pulse.  While  gener- 
ally it  is  a  quarter  note,  often  they  use  an  eighth  note, 
and  sometimes  a  half  note.  To  show  which  note  they  wish 
to  represent  the  circle,  they  put  another  number  under  the 
first:  in  the  motif  on  the  board  the  figure  four  represents 
the  circle  and  means  that  each  pulse  is  represented  by  a 
quarter  note. 


PLAN  OF  INSTRUCTION  BY  TOPICS  197 

The  teacher  has  now  thought  out  the  specific  things 
she  wishes  to  teach,  and  she  has  planned  to  combine  these 
with  what  the  children  already  know,  in  such  a  way  that 
they  will  have  a  clearly  defined  new  principle :  in  this  case 
that  tones  may  be  definitely  measured,  and  a  specific  form 
of  measurement  has  been  connected  with  the  specific 
signs  written  on  the  board,  as  quarter,  half,  and  eighth 
notes  with  the  vertical  lines  and  fractional  figures  for 
defining  the  pulses.  She  is  now  ready  for  the  fourth  step, 
in  which  she  will  test  both  the  accuracy  of  the  idea  and  the 
strength  of  its  association  with  its  symbols.  She  will  plan 
to  sing  several  short  phrases  in  which  occur  the  durations 
being  studied.  These  the  children  name  with  the  aid  of 
singing  and  clapping  where  necessary.  A  second  plan  is 
to  sing  extremely  simple  combinations  and  have  the  chil- 
dren write  them  down  in  musical  notations.  When  the 
teacher  has  convinced  herself  that  the  idea  and  the  asso- 
ciation are  well  established,  she  may  present  a  third  group 
of  exercises.  For  this  she  may  write  the  same  durations 
in  short  motifs  of  a  few  tones,  first  on  the  same  pitch, 
and  then  in  the  simplest  varying  tones,  and  have  the  chil- 
dren sing  them  as  complete  units  without  hesitation.  Ob- 
viously, the  fourth  step  is  one  that  will  cover  a  good  many 
lessons;  in  fact,  the  principles  implied  will  be  in  constant 
use  every  time  the  pupils  read  from  notation.  However, 
each  new  step  in  the  learning  of  rhythm  notation  from  now 
on,  instead  of  being,  as  is  very  frequently  the  case,  a  new 
and  unrelated  fact  to  be  mastered  and  remembered,  is 
simply  a  further  application  of  principles  already  familiar. 


198  EDUCATION   THROUGH  MUSIC 

What  is  there  more  deadening  than  to  repeat  the  same 
explanations  year  after  year,  when,  if  a  principle  were 
once  understood,  it  would  so  germinate  in  the  pupil's 
mind  that  he  would  be  more  than  ready  to  meet  the  teacher 
halfway?  Too  often  in  the  search  for  quick  results,  the 
development  of  principle  is  forgotten.  The  teacher  puts 
the  four  notes  on  the  board,  says  whole,  half,  quarter,  and 
eighth,  and  illustrates  by  drawing  a  circle.  In  order  to 
give  it  vivid  interest,  she  may  call  it  a  pie.  She  divides 
it  vertically  in  two.  The  whole  pie  has  become  two  half 
pies,  and,  as  if  the  children  were  fools,  she  asks  how  many 
half  pies  in  a  whole  one,  and  they  respond  in  joyous  unison, 
two.  Then  she  divides  it  again  horizontally;  the  familiar 
four  quartered  pie  is  before  their  eyes.  The  teacher  asks 
the  perfectly  obvious  question,  how  many  quarters  in  a 
whole?  How  many  in  a  half?  The  united  shout  of  the 
children  shows  more  enthusiasm  than  thought.  Now  by 
diagonal  lines  the  pie  is  cut  into  eighths.  These  fractions 
are  connected  with  the  notation,  and  we  have  apparently 
all  the  requirements  of  a  good  lesson, — a  great  deal  of 
interest,  concrete  illustration,  close  application,  and  yet  the 
vital  thing  to  be  taught  has  not  been  touched.  Arrange 
in  a  musical  passage  these  notes  of  which  the  children  tell 
the  names  so  glibly,  and  the  children  might  go  through  it 
if  the  teacher  sang  with  them,  beating  the  pulses  strongly 
on  the  table;  but  let  there  be  a  variation  in  the  passage, 
and  let  the  children  be  asked  to  do  it  individually,  or  even 
collectively,  without  the  aid  of  the  teacher,  and  they  would 
look  at  her  in  surprise,  showing  that  she  was  asking  from 


PLAN  OF  INSTRUCTION  BY  TOPICS  199 

them  something  of  which  they  had  not  the  slightest  con- 
ception. 

The  topic  chosen  for  illustrating  how  a  teacher  should 
prepare  for  her  lesson  was  purposely  selected  from  the 
structural  elements  in  music;  for  on  the  structural  side 
comes  the  greatest  difficulty  in  teaching.  Pitch  relations 
and  duration  values  can  be  presented  with  their  notation 
in  such  a  formal  way  that  they  cease  to  be  real  things  and 
amount  only  to  verbal  distinctions,  lacking  the  vitalizing 
influence  of  experience.  While  the  danger  of  losing  connec- 
tion with  experience  is  present  in  all  subjects,  it  is  espe- 
cially present  in  teaching  the  structure  of  music.  Children 
readily  produce  pitch,  duration,  and  pulse  relationships 
in  their  songs,  but  since  they  are  not  conscious  of  these 
relationships  as  such,  when  we  begin  to  talk  about  them, 
it  is  absolutely  essential  that  the  experience  for  which  the 
words  stand  be  also  clear  in  their  consciousness.  Hence 
the  stress  laid  upon  the  development  of  the  necessary  ex- 
perience, not  only  in  the  plan  of  the  lesson  by  topic  above 
suggested,  but  also  throughout  the  entire  book. 

While,  in  planning  the  lesson,  the  structural  element 
is  the  most  difficult  to  manage,  the  same  principle  will 
be  applied  to  the  interpretative  ideas.  These  can  be  taught 
with  comparative  ease,  for  when  a  child  changes  the  qual- 
ity of  his  voice  or  the  quantity  of  the  tone  that  he  employs, 
the  rate  of  movement  or  articulation,  he  is  distinctly  con- 
scious of  how  these  particular  changes  affect  the  expres- 
sion of  the  song.  In  other  words,  the  constitutive  ideas 
of  interpretation  arc   more   readily  connected   with    the 


200  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

experience  that  brings  them  into  consciousness  than  are 
structural  ideas. 

A  brief  illustration  will  show  how  the  same  planning 
by  topic  can  be  applied  to  interpretative  work.  Let  us  say, 
for  instance,  that  Nevin's  Wind  Song  is  taken.  The  trip- 
ping movement  of  the  first  part  and  the  imitative  refrain 
of  the  wind  at  the  end,  these  the  teacher  decides  she  will 
use  for  drill  in  clear  articulation,  the  production  of  a  good 
quality  of  tone,  and  practice  in  making  a  good,  even  cres- 
cendo and  diminuendo.  This  is  her  first  step.  She  next 
thinks  over  what  probable  experience  the  children  have 
had  both  with  wind  and  with  songs  in  which  the  wind  ideas 
have  been  expressed.  She  then  passes  to  the  third  step, 
and  thinks  through  the  way  she  will  bring  out  the  clear 
articulation  of  the  first  part,  and  the  imitation  of  the  wind 
sound  in  the  last  part,  due  attention  being  given  to  posi- 
tion, good  breath,  and  flexible  jaw,  the  leading  of  the  chil- 
dren to  recall  how  the  wind  grows  louder  and  softer  as 
they  have  heard  it,  the  forward  placing  of  the  tone  to 
make  it  soft  and  at  the  same  time  resonant:  in  short,  all 
the  material  will  be  passed  over  in  review  in  this  third 
step.  She  will  then  probably  select  some  songs  the  pupils 
already  know,  and  will  see  whether  they  can  apply  the 
newly  acquired  observation  and  skill  to  a  better  rendering 
of  their  old  favorites,  thus  completing  her  fourth  step. 

If  the  importance  and  fundamental  nature  of  what  is 
accomplished  by  the  longer  method  be  borne  in  mind,  the 
time  and  work  required  to  think  out  what  such  a  planning 
needs  will  not  be  considered  too  much.    The  experienced 


PLAN  OF  INSTRUCTION  BY  TOPICS  201 

teacher  will  go  through  these  four  steps  in  the  preparation 
of  her  plan  almost  simultaneously.  Long  practice  has  de- 
veloped the  technique  of  her  art.  But  to  establish  such 
a  technique  it  is  essential  to  break  up  what  is  done  into  the 
parts  that  constitute  it,  and  practice  these  simplified  parts 
until  they  can  be  accomplished  readily  and  with  ease.  In 
the  complicated  processes  that  go  on  in  a  lesson,  the  in- 
experienced teacher  who  attempts  to  do  everything  at  once, 
will  form  habits  involving  confusion  of  thought  and  false 
relationship  which  will  make  it  more  and  more  impossible 
to  gain  the  necessary  technique. 

In  this  chapter  on  the  lesson  plan  we  have  attempted, 
first,  to  illustrate  the  steps  in  the  development  of  a  thought 
with  reference  to  actual  lessons  given;  and  second,  to  in- 
dicate how  this  thought  is  related  to  the  larger  principles 
in  accordance  with  which  the  material  has  been  arranged 
and  work  suggested  in  this  book. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  BROAD  AND  THE  NARROW  VIEW  OF  EDU- 
CATION IN  RELATION  TO  MUSIC 

The  narrow  view  of  music  teaching  produces  two  dis- 
tinct types  of  work.  The  first  emphasizes  the  intellectual 
element,  and  makes  sight  singing  its  goal.  It  has  two 
advantages.  The  work  lends  itself  to  definite  measure- 
ment; written  exercises  and  singing  tests  show  what  it 
accomplishes;  the  world's  coarse  thumb  and  finger  can 
easily  plumb  its  results.  It  gets  these  results  by  utilizing 
the  formal  methods,  and  so  is  dear  to  the  hearts  of  many 
teachers  in  systematized  schools.  It  places  its  emphasis 
upon  the  eye  rather  than  upon  the  ear;  hence  a  larger 
number  of  the  teachers  of  general  subjects  are  able  by  its 
means  to  get  results.  This  in  itself  would  be  of  greatest 
importance  if  the  results  attained  could  be  proved  to  have 
musical  value  in  after  life. 

The  second  type,  which  emphasizes  the  emotional  ele- 
ment, though  diametrically  opposed  to  that  just  de- 
scribed, is  classified  under  the  narrow  view  because  it  also 
is  impatient  to  get  results.  It  asks,  "Why  all  this  harrow- 
ing and  preparation  for  work?  The  pupils  are  already 
overstimulated  to  think.    We  want  them  to  feel.    Let  us 


EDUCATION  IN  RELATION  TO  MUSIC         203 

gather  all  the  honey  of  feeling  from  the  flowers  of  song, 
and  trust  to  Nature  for  providing  the  blossoms."  Sup- 
porters of  this  view  are  not  merely  those  temperamentally 
emotional,  but  also  philosophers  and  leaders  of  educational 
thought,  who,  feeling  the  significance  and  value  of  music 
and  realizing  how  much  it  means  to  society,  naturally 
think  that  the  time  spent  in  schools  on  music  should  be 
taken  up  with  songs  that  will  inculcate  friendship,  love  of 
home,  love  of  nature,  of  one's  country,  and  of  God.  When 
the  advocates  of  this  type  see  the  entire  time  of  the  singing 
period  taken  up  with  the  practicing  of  scales  and  the  other 
machinery  of  sight  singing,  and  observe  that  the  song 
material  used  is  vapid,  both  musically  and  poetically, 
written  down  to  the  children  in  order  to  enable  them  to 
read  the  music,  the  song  being  treated  as  an  exercise  made 
interesting,  they  are  naturally  disgusted  with  the  whole 
American  effort  at  sight  singing,  and  say,  "Away  with  it 
all.  Let  us  do  as  they  do  very  largely  in  Germany.  Let 
the  teacher  with  violin  in  hand,  lead  the  children,  thus 
reducing  the  mental  effort  on  their  part  to  simple  imitation 
and  placing  the  whole  emphasis  on  the  emotional  side." 

They  make  the  mistake,  however,  of  valuing  music  only 
as  a  means.  They  fail  to  recognize  that,  being  an  art,  it 
has  beauty  for  its  goal,  and  that  beauty,  like  truth,  must 
be  sought  primarily  for  its  own  sake.  One  who  seeks 
beauty  because  it  is  good  for  his  health  or  his  morals  has 
not  the  attitude  towards  it  that  will  enable  him  to  grasp  it. 
For,  however  highly  we  may  regard  the  by-products  of 
artistic  activity,  art  that  is  pursued  for  the  by-products 


204  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

fails,  because  it  ceases  to  be  art.  It  is  like  the  picture  or 
the  poem  that,  masquerading  under  the  lion's  skin  of  art, 
attempts  to  inculcate  morals,  love  of  country,  or  religion; 
sooner  or  later  the  unfortunate  voice  betrays  the  imposture. 
There  are  those  who  feel  that  as  long  as  the  imposition  is 
not  recognized  the  end  justifies  the  means;  but  they  fail  to 
realize  that  the  means  become  abortive  because  the  true 
nature  of  art  has  been  violated,  so  that  it  cannot  exercise 
its  forceful  influence.  Hence  we  fail,  both  of  our  ethical 
and  artistic  results. 

Not  only  this,  but  this  type  of  the  narrow  view,  by  seeing 
in  art  only  its  emotional  worth,  fails  to  recognize  the  neces- 
sity for  the  intellectual  discipline  that  its  genuine  apprecia- 
tion demands.  Hence,  those  who  hold  it  are  impatient 
with  any  musical  work  that  is  not  constantly  bubbling  with 
emotional  fervor.  They  see  no  use  in  the  concentrated 
effort,  resembling  that  required  in  mathematics,  which  is 
so  often  demanded  in  a  complete  realization  of  a  work  of 
art. 

A  third  objection  to  this  type  is  that  in  emphasizing  the 
social  and  collective  aspect  requiring  expression,  the  field 
is  narrowed  and  the  motive  weakened.  With  reference  to 
the  former,  while  collective  singing  has  value  through  its 
intensity,  there  is  much  less  opportunity  for  its  exercise 
than  through  those  forms  of  musical  expression  that  we 
utilize  simply  by  hearing,  very  largely  in  the  field  of  in- 
strumental music.  While  the  ear  training  that  results 
develops  further  ability  for  the  same  kind  of  activity,  it 
does  not  necessarily  prepare  one  for  instrumental  forms  of 


EDUCATION  IN  RELATION  TO  MUSIC        205 

expression.  There  are  those  who  enjoy  singing  in  choruses, 
but  to  whom  instrumental  music  is  meaningless — a  good 
example  of  the  modern  psychological  view  that  preparation 
in  one  form  of  activity  does  not  necessarily  lead  to  the  ap- 
preciation of  an  allied  form,  even  though  it  be  closely 
related. 

Perhaps  the  most  serious  drawback  is  that  it  weakens 
the  motive  for  musical  activity  through  the  disregard  of 
the  individual  point  of  view.  The  individual  sings  patri- 
otic or  religious  songs,  not  because  he  values  the  social 
worth  of  the  emotions  they  awaken,  but  primarily  because 
he  loves  to  sing.  When  man  is  stirred  with  patriotic  fervor, 
either  in  time  of  war  or  by  some  eloquent  address,  or  under 
any  stimulating  social  feeling,  the  social  song  comes  to 
the  front  and  is  sung  with  vigor  and  enjoyment;  but  the 
average  prosaic  life  does  not  offer  sufficient  opportunities 
for  such  expression.  In  an  ordinary  state  of  mind,  a  per- 
son will  sing  a  patriotic  or  religious  song  for  the  attract- 
iveness there  is  in  the  song;  in  other  words,  for  what  he 
feels  is  its  beauty.  The  emotional  type  of  narrow  view, 
by  disregarding  the  training  in  musicianship  that  will  pre- 
pare the  individual  to  see  the  beauty  in  music  independ- 
ently of  all  extraneous  influences,  destroys  the  strongest 
motive  for  musical  expression  and,  as  we  have  already 
said,  defeats  its  own  end. 

Both  forms  of  the  narrow  view  emphasize  important  ele- 
ments in  music  teaching.  They  stand  in  the  way  of  a  more 
comprehensive  plan  because  of  the  truth  they  contain.  It 
is  right  that  early  and  definite  results  should  be  sought. 


206  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

The  reputation  both  of  the  teacher  and  of  the  school  system 
are  largely  judged  by  what  they  immediately  accomplish. 
It  requires  self-restraint  and  discipline  for  the  farmer  to 
leave  his  field  fallow  when  he  might  be  getting  crops.  It 
takes  a  broad  view  to  plow  deep  and  fertilize  well  when 
the  immediate  harvest  can  be  got  with  less  effort.  With 
the  pressure  for  results  upon  her  the  teacher  needs  moral 
courage  to  allow  time  for  preparing  the  pupils'  minds, 
when  by  appealing  directly  to  memory  she  can  have  not 
only  the  forms  of  knowledge  repeated  to  her,  but  the  proc- 
esses as  well,  and  so  cleverly  that  only  the  most  careful 
observer  can  detect  the  lack  of  genuine  understanding. 
These  quick  responses  are  the  product  not  of  thought  but 
of  imitation.  It  is  because  we  are  deceived  as  to  the  results 
of  the  narrow  view  that  it  is  often  considered  more  effective 
than  the  broad,  comprehensive  treatment. 

It  is  not  only  the  intellectual  and  the  emotional  aspects 
of  the  narrow  view  that  are  obstacles  to  the  successful 
carrying  out  of  more  comprehensive  schemes  of  music 
teaching.  There  are  practical  objections.  The  broader 
view  demands  special  training  on  the  part  of  the  teacher 
and  the  exercise  of  the  mind  in  discrimination  through  the 
use  of  the  ear,  an  organ  almost  never  used  for  discrimina- 
tive work  outside  of  music  and  the  incidental  phonics  work 
in  English.  When  we  consider  how  little  training  in  either 
of  these  the  average  teacher  gets,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
when  she  tries  to  deal  with  tonal  ideas  she  should  feel 
entirely  unable  to  cope  with  the  problem,  like  the  proverbial 
hen  with  her  brood  of  ducklings.    Lessening  this  demand 


EDUCATION  IN  RELATION  TO  MUSIC        207 

for  special  training  is  the  fact  that  when  music  is  taught 
in  a  truly  educational  way,  it  can  easily  be  related  to  other 
forms  of  educational  work  carried  on  in  a  similar  spirit. 
The  teacher  who  for  nature  study  and  English,  requires 
individual  observation  and  the  formulation  and  expression 
of  what  is  observed  in  cogent  and  effective  manner,  who 
makes  all  the  geography,  arithmetic,  and  writing  grow  out 
of  the  experiences  of  a  pupil's  daily  life  and  knows  how 
to  make  her  work  significant,  will  have  little  trouble  in 
teaching  music  along  the  broad  view,  even  though  her 
musical  training  may  not  be  extensive.  It  is  certainly  the 
experience  of  all  supervisors  that  the  teacher  working  along 
true  educational  lines  will  get  better  results  in  music  than 
the  merely  musical  teacher  who,  unable  to  analyze  her  own 
processes,  gets  only  thoughtless  and  imitative  results  by 
leading  the  pupils  with  her  voice. 

Another  objection  besides  the  training  required,  is  that 
the  carrying  out  of  the  broad  view  does  demand  time. 
Music  in  many  schools  at  present  fails  to  get  the  time  it 
needs,  because,  under  the  control  of  the  narrow  view  it 
aims  only  at  immediate  results,  and  so  does  not  exercise 
that  lasting  influence  upon  life  which  would  justify  those 
w  ho  arrange  school  programmes  in  giving  it  more  time.  If 
society  and  school  authorities  realized  how  much  more 
the  broad  view  would  make  possible  of  accomplishment, 
there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  getting  either  the  training 
or  the  time  essential  for  the  work. 

The  broad  view  not  only  attains  all  that  the  narrow  view 
aims  to  accomplish,  but  adds  two  distinctive  features:  in- 


208  EDUCATION  THROUGH  MUSIC 

dividual  initiative  and  the  communication  of  feeling.  The 
development  of  individual  initiative  renders  it  possible 
not  only  for  the  act  of  producing  music,  but  for  the  far 
more  frequent  act  of  hearing  music,  to  involve  an  active 
cooperation  of  both  the  thought  and  the  imagination  of 
the  pupil.  By  demanding  thought  and  imagination,  music 
causes  the  self  to  take  such  a  real  part  in  what  is  heard 
that  throughout  life  a  continual  development  ever  widens 
and  deepens  the  power  for  joyous  experience. 

The  communication  of  feeling  is  brought  about  through 
the  development  of  musical  ideas  which  charge  the  sen- 
suous beauty  of  music  with  the  expressive  qualities  of 
language,  not  duplicating  language  where  it  is  effective, 
but  conveying  the  expression  where  language  fails.  When 
the  reader  considers  how  vital  is  language  in  differentiating 
man  from  the  brute,  he  will  feel  the  importance  of  this 
subtler  language,  which  has  the  power  of  carrying  man  far 
beyond  the  limitations  of  speech.  In  terms  of  the  aim  of 
artistic  education  stated  in  the  first  chapter :  the  broad  view 
represents  an  education  through  music  that  quickens  per- 
ception, clarifies  feeling,  and  stimulates  initiative  for  the 
beautiful. 


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